Darker Wet
by fjkemp
Summary: Worlds collide when Khan's crew returns to Earth, asking for his help. As lives and loves unravel, both his families are put in danger. Sequel to The Anomaly.
1. Chapter 1

**Darker Wet**

******Characters:** Khan, Spock, OC's (Beth, Khan's Augment crew, some new faces)**  
****Setting:** Begins 8 months after end of The Anomaly **  
****Warning:** M-rating - not appropriate for minors. **At all.** Also contains spoilers for Star Trek Into Darkness and The Anomaly fanfic**  
****Disclaimer:** I don't own Star Trek and am writing this purely for fun - I hope it's also fun for other Star Trek fans :)

**This is a sequel to the fanfic The Anomaly. I do recommend you read that first, but if you're keen to dive into "Darker Wet", just know that there is some pretty dramatic history between Spock, Khan and Khan's wife, Beth.**

**At the end of The Anomaly, Spock and Starfleet believed Khan was dead, killed along with his entire crew on the planet Centula. They actually survived, but Khan parted ways with the Augments because their war was long over and Khan was not a leader for peacetime. **

**But more about them later. Khan has been living in Alaska with Beth and their two children. That is where this story begins...**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Beth was flat on her back before she knew what happened.

"Ah!" she cried, clutching the left side of her face as it erupted in pain. She lay there in shock, her eyes squeezed shut, cradling her jaw and trying to breathe.

"Get up," Khan said, his voice cool and detached as he stood over her.

She felt tears running down the sides of her face. Her hands were shaking. "I can't."

"At least open your eyes."

She did manage that, slowly, and squinted up at him through her honey-colored bangs.

Her husband towered over her, his bare chest like sculpted marble, his face an expressionless mask. He held up his right hand, still clenched in a powerful fist. "I should have done this months ago."

Beth moaned and rolled over to push herself off the floor. Khan grabbed her roughly by her ponytail and then his arm was around her neck, pulling her to her feet. "Why would you turn your back on me?"

He sounded disappointed. Beth yanked on his arm, feeling it constrict around her throat.

"I can't breathe," she croaked.

"You're lucky I didn't break your spine." He gave her whole body a shake, raising her a few inches off the floor. "What are you going to do about it?"

She banged her fists on his arm. "Wait, please."

His arm tightened. "Do you think a security officer would wait? Do you think a bounty hunter would let you catch your breath? You wanted to learn how to fight; in a real fight you'll have less than a second to react. What are you going…"

Beth drove her right arm backwards, elbowing Khan in the ribs. He loosened his grip a fraction and she sucked in a deep breath. "Follow through," he ordered. "And use your left arm to counterbalance. Do it again."

She did, feeling the difference as she hit him even harder, her blow forcing air out of his lungs. "Better," he said. "What else?" She stomped her foot down, driving her heel into his toes, but he just raised her off the ground, cutting off her air again. "Good, but always aim for the arch. What else?"

She kicked wildly, trying to twist herself free.

"Focus, Beth. You're burning energy. What did I teach you?"

But she couldn't remember. Her lungs were struggling for oxygen and panic replaced every cognizant thought in her head.

"Stay calm," he told her evenly. "Attack the joints, the nose, the eyes, the hands, the throat. Throw your head back, try to break my nose."

Beth imagined doing it, imagined the blood, the pain it could cause him. "I can't," she finally said, going limp.

Khan sighed, his grip on her neck relaxing as he lowered her to the ground.

"I'm sorry," she said, taking deep breaths, now holding his arm for support.

"I know it's hard." He wrapped his other arm around her waist and kissed the back of her head. "I don't like it either - why do you think I put this off for so long? But I may not always be around to protect you, and it's useless if it doesn't feel real. You'll only freeze when someone actually hurts you. Now, let me see your face."

Beth turned around, hiding her jaw with her left hand. It already felt swollen and she didn't want to show him. He pulled her hand away gently and couldn't suppress his flinch.

"I told you not to hold back," she reminded him, trying to sound blasé.

Khan laughed bitterly. "If I wasn't holding back you'd have a broken neck. I hit you half as hard as any average human male. It looks bad now but I don't think it will leave a mark."

"Oh." She touched the painful bump again, wondering how it could hurt so much and not even earn her a bruise.

"Why didn't you cover your face?" he asked. "Protect it with your fists and your torso with your arms." He showed her. "Didn't Starfleet give you any kind of defensive training? No wonder your security officers are so easy to disarm."

Beth frowned. What did he expect? She'd spent most of her time at the Academy trying to avoid close-quarter contact with the opposite sex; she certainly hadn't elected to take combat tutorials from one of the male instructors.

"Ready to go again?"

He barely gave her enough time to brace herself before throwing the next punch. She managed to knock it aside, but the action spun her into his arms. Khan shoved her up against the nearest wall, crushing his body against her back. Her swollen jaw pressed painfully against the wall.

"Concentrate!" he barked, but her struggles were futile.

She could barely breathe let alone fight, and she could feel Khan's penis growing hard as she tried to push him off her. "How am I supposed to concentrate with that thing in my back?"

He eased up so she could turn to face him, but did not let her go. "You know I can't control it," he said, unashamed. "And neither could a real attacker."

Beth looked away and Khan put his fingers under her chin to bring her back to him. His hands could be astonishingly gentle when he let them. "You know that's the reality of your anomaly."

She nodded. "I know."

"And Beth, if anything like that ever happened; if you were raped, or worse…"

"Khan." She didn't want to think about what could possibly be worse than rape.

"Listen to me," he insisted, waiting until he had her full attention. "All you have to do is survive. I don't care how, I don't care what you have to do. I will still love you. I will still want you. You will still be my wife. Do you understand?"

She nodded, leaning into him. "I understand."

He held her to his chest, enveloping her in his warmth and strength. Beth let her legs go limp, just to feel him catch her.

* * *

**_Today the Federation Security Council confirmed the existence of a new military intelligence agency, the Department of Extreme Threats, or DET. _**

**_In an official statement, the head of the DET, Commissioner Graves, explained that his department only targets enemies of the Federation deemed too extreme and dangerous to be countered by normal Security forces. _**

**_He gave two examples of such threats: Klingon forces attacking Federation outposts in the Beta Quadrant and the genetically modified terrorists responsible for the attacks on Starfleet in 2259. _**

**_While detractors accuse the DET of unethical practices, Commissioner Graves… _**

Khan stopped reading and put his PADD down. He had known about the existence of DET for some time. For months he'd watched them trawl information networks and tap into surveillance systems, so clumsy and disorganized they could barely track their own activity let alone his or anyone else's.

But lately they had been getting more efficient, and Khan knew it was due to this Commissioner Graves. He was an aggressive and competent man, and if he ws no longer content to operate in the shadows, he was ambitious as well. Going public could only be bad for Khan and both his families.

"What's the matter?" Beth asked him, her gentle voice full of love and worry. Khan looked over the kitchen table at her, where she was helping their eleven month old twins eat breakfast. She looked back at him, frowning, and he tried to smile.

"Nothing," he said. Her concern was for him, but not for herself and not for her children. He wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Her smile was doubtful, she knew him so well, but she said nothing and turned back to Taren, who seemed determined to see how far she could fling her scrambled eggs. Considering she had inherited her father's Augment strength, it was usually well into the next room.

Khan tried not to encourage her by laughing, and he watched Beth pretend a spoonful of eggs was a freight ship.

"Requesting permission to land," she said, waving the spoon hypnotically. "Open your cargo bay doors."

This elicited peals of laughter that bounced the toddler's strawberry blonde curls as she opened her mouth.

Allister watched their morning ritual as he gnawed on a slice of apple with his two bottom teeth. He had inherited Khan's dark hair, superior intelligence and low threshold for nonsense. The expression on his face made it clear he thought his mother and sister were either mentally deficient or insane.

"I need to go away," Khan said suddenly, and the look Beth flashed him was almost afraid. "Just a week," he added quickly. "To Golana. I should leave as soon as possible, I'll go tomorrow morning."

* * *

Beth tried to press Khan for details of his trip, but he refused, saying it was for her own protection. It was something he'd been saying a lot lately, to explain away almost anything she didn't like. She got the impression that Khan's version of protecting her meant protecting her from the truth.

She finally gave up. "We're going down to the river," she told him, lifting the children out of their high chairs and setting them on a rug beside the table. "If you get any time for your family."

"Swim, swim!" Taren cheered happily, and bounded over to her brother. He was not so enthusiastic, but let her pull on his arm, helping him stand. Allister was less confident on his feet than Taren, who was more like an Augment in almost every physical way. He had a tendency to lean on his sister for balance, which she didn't mind at all.

Beth tried not to think about her husband leaving for a whole week, especially to Golana. She couldn't imagine why he'd ever want to go back to that planet. The last time they were there he had almost died and she had been sold into slavery. If the seedy hell hole was hit by a giant meteorite that afternoon it wouldn't be soon enough for Beth.

"I'll be back on Sunday," Khan said carefully, probably sensing her coolness. He went to her, putting as arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. "Why don't you come and meet me when I arrive? Your mother can mind the children. I'll land in St. Petersburg. There's a place I'd like to take you for dinner."

"Maybe," Beth said, shrugging out of his embrace. "If I don't get a better offer."

He had no reply for that, and after a while she turned back to look at him. He was watching her fixedly, his expression unreadable.

"It was a joke," she said, but no one was laughing, not even Taren who had been subdued by the sudden tension between her parents. "I'd like to have dinner with you."

Beth needed to get out of the house, to clear her head. The temperature was supposed to go over seventy-five degrees for the first time all year - she loaded up an old green wagon with the twins and towels and a picnic lunch.

As they started the trek to the river she called to the two Akbash guard dogs Khan had given Allister and Taren the previous Christmas. The dogs were brothers from the same litter, only nine months old but already a hundred pounds each. They came bounding after the family down the hill, their bright white coats shining in the mid-morning sun.

The weather was perfectly warm, but when they reached the river, they discovered the water was still freezing cold. Only Taren wanted to stay in longer than five seconds, and Beth sat on the shore and watched the little girl splash playfully with her dog, Mash, whom she'd named after her favorite food, mashed potato.

Allister had named his dog Ghost, because his white fur had made him almost invisible in the snow on Christmas morning. Together, boy and dog napped on a towel, Allister leaning back against Ghost's thick, soft fur as the dog protectively wrapped his neck and body around him.

Suddenly, Ghost raised his head, his eyes narrowing as he bared his teeth. Mash also gave a low growl from the water's edge and Beth turned to see the bushes behind her rustle violently.

Fearing it was a black bear, she scrambled towards the green wagon where she'd left her phaser. Before she could reach it a massive gray Kangal dog exploded out of the bushes and hurtled towards her at an incredible rate. Beth jumped to her feet, preferring to face the monster head on. Not that it would make any difference; she knew this dog and he could not be intimidated.

"Duman, no!" she shouted, trying to sound forceful. "No!"

When the dog raised up on his hind legs he was more than a foot taller than Beth. He put his heavy paws on her shoulders and completely flattened her to the ground.

"Duman!" she shouted again, trying to roll the dog off her, but he had at least forty pounds on her and wasn't going to be moved. As he settled, pinning her down, she heard Allister and Taren laughing.

"That's enough, Duman," Khan's voice ordered calmly.

The dog immediately pushed himself up and circled around to stand beside his master. Khan put his hand on the dog's large head, which came up past his waist, not exactly petting him, but not reprimanding him either. "Stay."

Khan approached Beth where she was still lying on the ground, and held out a hand. "Sorry, he got away from me."

She wasn't so sure and stood without his help. "I swear you've trained him to do that."

"Of course," he told her. "But only on command, and not to you. He likes to dominate you because you're so nervous of him, but you're one of his charges, he would never hurt you."

She stepped close to him and whispered, so the children wouldn't hear. "It's humiliating."

"Now, don't overreact," Khan said dismissively, fixing the loose strap of her swimsuit, which had fallen down her arm. His fingers lingered on her shoulder, maybe enjoying the kiss of the sun on her skin.

Without looking down Beth hooked her left foot behind Khan's knee and pulled it forward, pushing his chest back at the same time. If he hadn't been distracted it wouldn't have worked, but he fell on the sand with a satisfying grunt.

The children screamed with laughter and the dogs barked excitedly. Beth looked down at Khan, her hands on her hips. "Now, don't overreact," she mimicked.

She could see him considering his options. There were probably a dozen ways he could retaliate and put her back in her place. Instead, he laughed and stood and kissed her on the cheek. He went over to his son and swept Allister up in the air. The little boy squealed and looked down at his father with adoration.

"Did you like that?" Khan asked. "I think your mother's been holding out on us."

Beth laughed as well, feeling herself relax. She didn't want to fight with Khan. She didn't want the last day before his trip to be full of anger and resentment. Khan held Allister close, kissing the top of his head, burying his face in the toddler's thick dark hair. He was rewarded with a wet kiss on the chin before handing him to his mother.

Kicking his shoes off, Khan began to undress, giving Beth a quick wink as he unzipped his pants. She blushed and watched her husband's nakedness revealed to her one item of clothing at a time. He was an awesome sight - elegant and lean and strong - she wanted to touch him, to run her hand over his chest and stomach, and had to remind herself that she was holding one of their children.

"Do you want to eat?" she asked him, hearing the heat in her own voice.

Khan heard it as well and the corner of his mouth twitched as he looked over at her. "Always," he said meaningfully. "But I'll swim with Taren first."

He strode over to where his daughter was still playing with Mash in the shallows. He picked up the little girl, pulling her against his torso as he dove under the water. They disappeared for almost a minute, and just as Beth felt her heart begin to race, their two heads – one dark and one fair – bobbed to the surface in the middle of the river.

Mash barked hysterically as they swam back to shore, Taren doing a kind of doggie paddle as Khan pulled alongside her with a lazy sidestroke.

After a lunch of roasted chicken, home-baked bread and the latest harvest from Beth's vegetable garden, they all lay down to nap under a tree while the dogs stood guard. Khan and the twins were all nude, and completely relaxed in their skin. Beth looked at them and fidgeted with the straps of her swimsuit. It was too loose on her – the last time she'd worn it was the previous summer when she'd been eight months pregnant.

"No one else will see you," Khan told her, opening one eye, perhaps reading her mind.

She nodded and sat up to take the swimsuit off, blushing again as he rolled onto his stomach to watch her.

When she lay down he held out a hand across the towel and she took it, knowing how dreamy her smile must have been. She felt unbelievably happy. "I still wish you weren't leaving, but I can't think of anything that could make this moment any better," she said softly, looking down at Allister and Taren, still fast asleep, facing each other, their foreheads touching.

"I can," Khan said, also watching their children. He looked back up at Beth. "I want another one."

"Me too," she told him, squeezing his hand and closing her eyes. She already knew he wanted as many children as she could give him; it was one of the reasons she'd stopped breast feeding the twins. Her menstrual cycle had returned to normal and her old doctor in McGrath had told her there was no reason she could not conceive again. "I think it's almost time."

* * *

It was just after midnight when Beth found Khan in his study, staring out the window. The sun was finally going down behind the hills in the north-west, casting a pink and orange blush over the land and the winding Innoko River.

"Coming to bed?" she asked, standing beside him and tucking her arm around his. She was wearing a white bath robe and Khan was just in thin cotton pajama bottoms, dark blue, with bare feet. It was their last night together before his trip and she wanted to be with him.

"I'm watching the sunset," he told her. "Stay with me." He pulled her to stand in front of him so he could wrap both arms around her. He bent his head forward to kiss against her ear. "You look so beautiful in this light."

Beth turned to face him over her shoulder so he could kiss her lips. His hand slipped inside her robe and when he discovered her naked breast his breath caught in his throat, his fingers grazing lightly over her nipple.

Three hours later they were together in bed, laying on their sides, their bodies covered in a sheen of sweat that glowed golden in the pre-dawn light. Beth buried her face in a pillow, unable to control her cries of pleasure in any other way as another orgasm washed over her. Khan smiled as he pulled her trembling body back against him, holding her even closer, his mouth on her shoulder, his hand between her legs, thrusting deep and slow inside his wife as the sun rose over the mountains.

* * *

**Welcome back to everyone who already read The Anomaly and/or Extras - The Anomaly, and hello to any new readers! I hope you liked this and it wasn't too much or too little. I wanted to set the scene in Alaska while giving the plot (and the smut!) a lazy start. ****Let me know what you think, and please forgive the fluff – I think I ovulated while writing this chapter ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome back for Beth and Khan! I was so happy to see all the follows and favs, and thanks to these guys for their awesome reviews!**

**Rem, rin2004, Sinister Bunny, shippolove844, CLTex, WhitneyG, TheJewellersHand, Kassandra J, BigStraightCrush, FecklessFemale, DoctorGiggelstheMouse and the Guests. **

**Thanks also to Pint-sized She-Bear and Opera123 for their encouraging posts under The Anomaly.**

**This one is from Spock's POV as we catch up on his life and get a peek at what he's gone through since The Anomaly. We also meet some new characters, and I hope you're curious about them :) **

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Spock, are you alright?"

He heard the words but they barely registered.

"Spock, you've been hit."

A strong pair of hands grabbed him under the arms and half-lifted, half-dragged him behind a sand dune. Spock squinted into the yellow sunlight and tried to focus on the young Augment leaning over him.

Dyret smiled down at Spock, his teeth bright white in his tanned face, his hair bleached to match by the sun. "There you are," he said. "Can you get up? Can you walk?"

Spock nodded, trying to sit up. "What happened?"

He heard the sound of phaser fire and he and Dyret were showered with hot sand.

"Klingons happened," Dyret said, laughing. "We can't stay here. You go ahead to the ship, I'll go back for Lucy."

"I will wait," Spock said, feeling stronger by the second. The Klingons had barely stunned him.

"It's okay," Dyret said, trying to push him in the direction of the jungle. "I'll make sure nothing happens to your girl."

Spock and Lucy had been serving on Dyret's crew for almost three months, since Spock's leave of absence from Starfleet. He did not understand why everyone was convinced they were romantically attached. They spent most of their time together, but that was because they were a tactical team, plus Lucy was human, making her the only other non-Augment.

"I can provide cover from the Klingons' fire," Spock said.

"As you wish." Dyret grinned before taking off running back towards the village. It had already been evacuated and he and Spock and Lucy had been making their final sweep for stragglers when they'd been ambushed by a small Klingon scouting party doing the same thing. A Klingon had grabbed Lucy but she had somehow managed to fight him off, sustaining only a shallow flesh wound to her right thigh.

Dyret moved impossibly fast across the dunes, but Klingon phasers struck the ground close behind him, sending up clouds of sand that solidified into fragments of glass.

Spock fired his own phaser at the Klingons, forcing them to retreat towards the beach. It gave Dyret the time he needed to carry Lucy across the fifty meters of sand between the village and the jungle.

With Spock still firing over his shoulder, they ran into the humid darkness, knowing that the Klingon scouts would not follow.

Once they were safe, Dyret turned to Spock. "Here you go," he said, handing Lucy over.

Spock looked down at the young woman in his arms, her face half-hidden by a tangled mess of purple hair. Her blue eyes peered back at him, almost scowling with embarrassment.

"I can walk," she said, and Spock lowered her carefully to the ground.

Dyret rolled his eyes and laughed. "You two are hopeless." He went ahead, leading the way to the small ship they'd landed in a clearing.

"I think he's trying to tell us something," Lucy said, smirking sideways at Spock.

"He is not the only one," Spock agreed, thinking of the way other crew members enjoyed throwing him and Lucy together like they were some shared social experiment.

"Maybe we should go out sometime so they'll leave us alone."

He could not tell if she was joking. He opened his mouth to disagree when he heard another phaser being fired ahead of them.

Spock ran forwards, drawing his weapon, but soon stopped in his tracks. Dyret was laying on the ground, and standing over him was not a Klingon but a human male dressed all in black.

"Step back," Spock warned, raising his phaser and aiming at the man's chest.

He was tall and muscular, with neat brown hair and a chiseled face. He did not move, did not even look up.

"I said get back," Spock insisted, stepping closer himself. The man raised his eyes, only his eyes. They were pale and green, calm and evaluating. He was unarmed. "Did you do this?" Spock asked. "Who are..."

"No!" Lucy half-ran, half-limped past Spock to stand in his way. She was breathing hard, almost hyperventilating as she put a hand on his phaser and pointed it to the ground. "Don't, Spock, you can't shoot him."

She looked nervous, possibly frightened. She was a human serving alongside Augments, fighting Klingons that had invaded her home planet; Spock had thought her to be fearless. "You know this man?" he asked. "He attacked Dyret." Spock looked down at the young Augment who had saved his life just minutes ago. "Why are you protecting him?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder at the man in black, who had not once taken his eyes off Spock. As Spock waited for her answer, the small clearing began to fill with more men, all human, in matching black uniforms. Spock noticed the red insignia on their sleeves. They were special forces from the Federation's Department of Extreme Threats.

Lucy turned back to him, her face full of sadness and regret. "I'm sorry, Commander Spock, but he's not the one I'm trying to protect."

* * *

"He's going to be alright."

The tentative hand on Spock's arm made him jump and he turned, feeling a need to lash out at Lucy... for lying to him, for not telling him she was working for the DET, but most of all for sitting in Dyret's chair.

"You can not know that," he said, staring at the view screen of their small ship as he piloted it into orbit. "Are you even from Wellhaven?"

Lucy looked down at the surface of the planet and nodded.

"Why are you helping the Federation? Wellhaven is a separatist colony."

"They needed someone local to gain the Augments' trust," Lucy said. "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"You're a mercenary?" Spock asked, surprised. "The Federation does not employ mercenaries."

"The DET employs whoever it wants."

This had been Spock's first encounter with the Department of Extreme Threats, but he'd heard stories of their unorthodox methods before. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Dyret's face after he had woken up. Even with his arms bound, it had taken a dozen DET agents to force him into a specially-engineered containment cell. He had looked at Spock and Lucy with such hurt and confusion that Spock was still trying to suppress the guilt.

Almost a year earlier, the Augments had been passing the small planet of Wellhaven when they had picked up a distress call from its human colonists. Klingons were attacking, determined to add Wellhaven to their expanding Empire. The Augments had intervened and fought to defend it. They were the only thing that stood between the human colonists and certain death or slavery. When they successfully fought back the invaders, the colonists invited Dyret and his crew to settle on Wellhaven for as long as they wished. The arrangement gave the Augments a new world to call home, and it gave the colonists the finest army in the galaxy.

When word of their fierce battle spread to Earth, it did not take Starfleet long to realize that the single cloaked freighter laying waste to fleets of Klingon Birds of Prey could only be manned by Khan's old Augment crew.

Spock had been on extended psychiatric leave from his duties when Starfleet's Admiral Caine had approached him. Spock had already spent several months on New Vulcan, being treated for the aftereffects of the torture he'd suffered at the hands of Khan Noonien Singh. When Admiral Caine had offered Spock the chance to help apprehend Khan once and for all, he had accepted without a moment's hesitation.

But this was not what he had agreed to. He was supposed to be on a fact finding mission - to infiltrate the Augment crew and find out where Khan was hiding - no one was supposed to get hurt.

"They're just going to hold him until we deliver Khan," Lucy said after a long silence.

It was what Admiral Caine had promised. He was happy to let the Augments continue the "public service" of killing Klingons as long as they stayed out of Federation space. But Spock had seen the covetous way Commissioner Graves, the man in black with the pale green eyes, had watched Dyret struggle against his captors. He knew he had possession of something rare and valuable, and he was not the kind of man to be bound by another man's promise.

"The Augments were never going to reach out to Khan as long as they had Dyret," Lucy continued, touching Spock's arm again. "We had no choice."

Spock nodded. It was perfectly logical. With Dyret gone, the Augments would need to select a new leader. Spock knew there was no one the whole crew would accept besides Khan.

Especially since the Klingons had recently returned to Wellhaven, more prepared for the Augments and their kind-hearted commander. Too many times Dyret had been reluctant to finish off a disabled Klingon ship, too many times he had let them fool him into lowering his guard. Frustrated by months of drawn-out fighting, some of the Augments had already been talking mutiny, and Khan's name had been raised, among others, as Dyret's replacement. They needed someone with a true warrior instinct, and no one had ever been as successful in battle as Khan.

As their ship approached the Augment's freighter, Spock could feel himself growing more anxious. He had just collaborated with Starfleet and the DET to have Dyret apprehended, and now he had to lie to Dyret's crew and tell them their leader had been killed by Klingons. He found the duplicity of the lie almost as difficult as the act that made it necessary.

As Spock docked in the freighter's hangar, a contingent of Augments were already waiting to meet them. They watched Spock exit first, followed by Lucy, and then they waited expectantly for Dyret to follow behind them.

"He's gone," Spock said, managing to maintain eye contact with the five Augments staring back at him in shock.

"What do you mean, gone?"

He could understand their disbelief; Dyret was the best among them, the strongest and the fastest, their moral compass. They did not care that he was also the youngest - barely twenty-one - he might have had his faults but he had earned his place as their leader.

"Klingons ambushed us in the village" Spock said. That much was true, he tried to tell himself. His mouth hung open, waiting to tell the lie he had been ordered to tell, but he could not say the words.

Lucy said them for him. "We fought them but they had modified weapons. They hit Dyret and he just fell. By the time I made it over to him he was already dead."

"So you just left him?" The question was asked by Brann, a large blond male with accusing gray eyes. He was from the same Scandinavian region as Dyret, and loved him like a brother. "He was your commander!"

"I was injured," Lucy said, looking down, tears forming in her eyes, her voice breaking. "I tried to take him back to the ship, but he was too heavy."

Despite an ethical objection to their whole charade, Spock was impressed by her performance. He could not lie like that. Before this mission he'd thought he could not lie at all.

"This is why we should not allow humans in our ranks," said Hatari, a statuesque African female.

"You're defending my planet," Lucy insisted. "I want to fight for Wellhaven."

"Khan would not have allowed it."

Spock's pulse quickened at the mention of Khan's name. He saw Lucy look up at him.

So did Brann. "Why didn't _you_ retrieve Dyret's body?" he asked Spock. "How could you just fly off and leave him with those animals?"

Lucy sobbed loudly, covering her face with her hands, distracting Brann. Spock let himself feel fleeting gratitude towards her as he took the extra time to carefully formulate his answer. "Risking my life to retrieve a dead body would be illogical."

"Illogical!" Brann gave Spock a hard shove in the chest. Spock staggered back a few steps, but kept his footing. He had been with the Augment crew long enough to anticipate Brann's explosive physicality. "You know what they'll do to him!"

He lunged for Spock, but was intercepted by an Augment male called Chase, who was shorter and stocky, with red-hair and a full ginger beard. He slowed Brann down but did not stop him, so another Augment – Matthew – stepped in. Spock flinched as Matthew bumped into him as he helped wrangle Brann, and he took a step back so he would not be tempted to reach out and grab Matthew around the neck.

Matthew was a pleasant and decent man, and he'd made several attempts to become Spock's friend, but Spock could not look at him without wanting to rearrange his face. It was not Matthew's fault – he could not help the way he looked – he could not help that he'd been engineered in the same Turkish facility as Khan, and was a near-perfect replica of the terrorist that had caused Spock so much pain.

Matthew was younger than Khan by seven years, had shorter hair, and was more tanned because he spent most of his time in Wellhaven's tropical climes, but just being around him brought back disturbing, blood-soaked memories.

Arma stepped forward, distracting Spock and calming Brann. She was Dyret's second in command and now officially in charge. "Spock is right, it _would_ be illogical to lose anyone else. Dyret counted Spock and Lucy among his friends. He would have wanted them to escape."

Spock suppressed the guilt rising up inside his stomach. Lucy continued to cry quietly, and he wondered if her tears might be real after all.

"We cannot let the others know about Dyret," Arma was telling them. Her low voice encouraged them to form a tight circle around her. "Not yet, anyway. We all know there are multiple factions on this ship who would like to see different people take his place. The internal fighting would tear us apart."

Spock knew that as their new commander, she would be a target for these factions. It was the Augment way to physically challenge their leaders to replace them, sometimes fighting to the death. No doubt a leader could only maintain their hold over their crew by making them too afraid to raise a challenge. This was how Khan must have remained their leader for so long. Spock could not imagine anyone more punishing, nor treacherous.

"What do you propose?" Brann asked Arma.

"We need to approach Khan," Hatari insisted.

Spock forced his face to remain impassive. This was the moment he had been working towards for the past three months. He watched Arma along with everyone else, and he felt as much apprehension as hope. He did not want to see Khan again. His last encounter with the Augment had been almost conciliatory, but in the following months Spock's entire life had unraveled as a direct result of Khan's cruelty. The knowledge that he was alive and unpunished sometimes burned inside him like an infection.

His only comfort was that wherever Khan was, he was alone, and hopefully unhappy and regretting all of the pain he'd inflicted on people as much as the people he'd hurt regretted ever meeting him.

"Yes, we'll go to Khan," Arma decided. "All seven of us. Today. I can't let any of you stay behind, because it is too important that no one else learn the truth until we return with Khan."

The others nodded, with varying degrees of relief and agreement.

"But first I must prepare you all," Arma continued. "I have been in constant contact with Khan for the past year. He wanted me to know where he was, in case anything happened to him, and I wanted to keep him abreast of our situation, in case this day ever came. Khan has shared the details of his private life with me, and I need to prepare you for what we will find when we arrive on Earth."

"He's on Earth?" Spock was shocked. It was so brazen, so reckless, so typical of Khan to hide on the very planet he'd traumatized so thoroughly. At least Starfleet would not have to transport him far once he was apprehended.

"Yes," Arma said. "He's living in Alaska."

Alaska.

Spock wanted to scream, but he felt the urge slide calmly through his mind and settle in a cool, dark place behind a wall of self-control.

He knew what Arma was about to tell them and it was worse than anything he had imagined.

"Do you remember him talking about a human woman? A Secondary Augment, to be more accurate."

"Beth Walker?" Matthew asked. Spock looked at him sharply, seeing Khan's face again, hearing Khan's voice saying her name.

Spock could still see Beth, as clearly as the day Khan had abducted her, abused her, and impregnated her in front of him.

"He still has her?" he asked.

Arma looked at him curiously, perhaps noticing his choice of words, but Spock looked back at her with no hint of anger or concern.

"I thought she'd died," Chase said, scratching his beard. "He told us she'd died."

"He found her, three months later," Arma told him. "They've been together since then, living in Alaska. They have two children."

She'd had the twins. Spock felt relieved for her but also sickened. The reaction from the others varied widely. Chase threw his head back and laughed out loud, Brann just stared in disbelief. Hatari let out a noise that seemed to be anger and joy combined and Matthew narrowed his eyes, looking suddenly thoughtful. Spock guessed he was trying to imagine the children, which would no doubt resemble himself as much as Khan.

Spock looked at Lucy, and saw that she was watching him. She probably knew his full history with Khan, including his brief infatuation with Beth. She was watching him with concern, looking for any sign of instability. He looked away. He was not going to lose control now.

After Khan had used Beth to hurt him, Spock had found her subsequent devotion to the Augment almost as painful, but he knew it was rooted in delusion and self-preservation. He'd thought Khan's death had freed her, but if Khan had hunted her down, then she was still under his control, and still in danger, and so were her children.

Spock knew he had to help her; get her away from Khan before forces swooped in to arrest him. They would not understand that she was as much a victim as anyone else Khan had hurt, and her children would not be safe from Starfleet's scientists, who had already threatened them once. He didn't even know what would happen if she became a person of interest to the DET. Spock could protect her – he had made that promise to her a long time ago and he knew that helping her would bring him closure and relief from the trauma they had shared.

He also felt a kind of pleasure in the knowledge that taking Beth away from Khan before he was arrested would hurt the Augment as deeply as Khan had hurt him.

* * *

**I really wanted to show how differently Spock sees things, compared to the rosy view held by Beth and Khan. Are you curious to see what happens when Spock sees their life together, and are you curious to see what Beth will make of Matthew (and vice versa)? ****I also wanted to show how conflicted Spock is being a kind of spy among the Augments. It is not in the Vulcan nature at all, and poor sweet Dyret being betrayed like that! ****What do you think of Commissioner Graves? And Lucy? Why does she take so many risks with her world and her life (if the Augments find out she's helping to betray Dyret and Khan) and what do you think of her partnership with Spock? She's another human among all these Augments but she has a very different place in their world. So much deception, and so much at stake! So much going on - let me know if anything is confusing. ****I can't wait for the Augments to arrive! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Thanksgiving weekend to those living in the US! I am actually not American but I live in California and I think Thanksgiving is just about my favorite (favourite?) holiday. I hope you all have lots to be thankful for – if nothing else, there is always Star Trek and Khan and FanFiction!**

**I am thankful to everyone following and faving along with Darker Wet, and to these pilgrims for leaving new reviews:**

**CLTex, rem, shippolove84, Razberri, WhitneyG, ElysiumPhoenix, Pint-sized She-Bear, BigStraightCrush, Sinister Bunny, FecklessFemale and April**

* * *

**Chapter 3 – The One You're With**

Khan stared at his PADD and watched the comm icon twirl and eventually time out. He was trying to call Beth at the house and she was not answering. Again. She was out. Again. He had not expected her to fall to pieces, locking herself away and pining in misery until his return, but he had also not expected... this.

In the five days Khan had been gone, Beth had transformed from a shy homebody who didn't like to leave their compound let alone the state of Alaska, into an avid world traveler who thought nothing of taking his children to the beach in Australia or going to Reykjavik to buy a dress.

The only time they seemed able to connect was after her dinner. When he called at night she would take her PADD into the nursery so he could say goodnight to the children, and then she would take him into their bedroom and the conversation would quickly turn to sex. She would get herself so worked up that she wanted to undress for him and touch herself and she wanted him to do the same.

He would not do those things - he preferred to wait until he was with her on Sunday - but he found her behavior surprising and incredibly arousing. And very disconcerting. It was not like her to be so salacious. At least he didn't think so. He'd never left her alone for more than a day in the past eighteen months. She seemed to be seeking out diversions and new experiences while he was gone, and Khan tried not to imagine what else she might go looking for in his absence.

Scowling in frustration, Khan walked back inside the large gray building behind him. It housed the laboratories where he was conducting his latest research experiments. The labs were owned by the Cochlan brothers of Golana. They were descendants of Augments from Khan's time who had reached the end of their genetic rope.

Just like full-blooded Augments, they were unable to interbreed with humans. They were conducting research into cloning and genetic manipulation as a last-ditch effort to prolong their family empire. Finding out what the Cochlans knew about the Department of Extreme Threats was Khan's primary reason for visiting Golana, but he also wanted to check on their progress in genetic research and ensure their work was in no way a threat to his family or his old Augment crew.

He was also conducting his own experiments which had outgrown his facilities in Alaska. Khan had identified the key genetic markers of Beth's anomaly, and now he was trying to develop a method of suppressing them.

He didn't like the idea of changing her, at all. He had a selfish desire to keep her just as she was, so she could keep giving him children, so she would always have that unique, ambrosial appeal to his senses... but it was those very things that put her at incredible risk, and he could not be around forever to protect her.

He knew that under Dyret's leadership, the Augments were drawing attention to themselves in battles against the Klingons. He knew it was only a matter of time before Starfleet realized he was still alive, and if Starfleet or the Klingons, or any of his other enemies found him, Beth and his children could be in terrible danger.

If that day ever came - if he was killed or taken, or posed a threat to his family by being with them and felt he had to leave, he wanted Beth to be as safe as possible. With her anomaly, at best she would live alone and in fear for the rest of her life, and at worst... Khan had already seen Beth under the control of sadistic men determined to punish her for what she was.

As he entered the laboratory he saw Hodges and Simeon waiting for him. The two scientists had been sharing their work with him and, as had been arranged, he was expected to reciprocate. He would never expose Beth's files to these men, so as he had brought other results to share with them. As Khan approached he saw they were watching a recording of his dog, Duman, running through the forest in Alaska.

"He's going over seventy miles an hour here," Khan told them, irritated that they had not waited for him. "But his top speed is ninety-two-point-two." Duman ran fearlessly to the edge of a wide ravine and leapt easily to the other side. "That jump is sixty-four feet long."

"Amazing," Simeon marveled. "What genetic blueprint did you use for the increased strength and stamina?"

"My own," Khan told them. "The dog was created using my augmented genes. He has also inherited non-physical traits from the infusion, like protectiveness bordering on possessiveness, and an intense dislike of anyone touching his things." He said these last words with emphasis and pulled his lab notes closer as if to prove his point.

While Simeon paused and replayed the recording, Hodges turned to Khan. "We've been trying to breed these kinds of changes into a live host for years with no success," he said. "Your understanding of anomolous genes is remarkable. We could actually use your help with something."

"No doubt," Khan said, but he wanted to ensure the Cochlans' efforts remained unsuccessful; he had no interest in helping the ambitious brothers clone or breed a new kind of Augment.

"It's not with work we're conducting here in Golana," Hodges continued. "It is experimental research on Augment immunity that was handed to us from a contact in the Federation."

"The Federation is researching Augment immunity?" Khan asked. That _was_ something that concerned him. "Is it recent?"

Since his blood had been used to resurrect Captain Kirk, he knew it was just a matter of time before humans would try to find a way to use Augment genes to suspend their own mortality.

But before Hodges could answer, Khan's communicator beeped, alerting him of an incoming call. He looked down and saw that it was not Beth, as he'd hoped. It was a call from Arma.

"Excuse me, I need to take this in private," he said to his colleagues.

They nodded, turning to leave. Hodges hesitated.

"Excuse me again," he said, "But where is the dog now?"

"At home," Khan told him. "Guarding something very valuable to me."

* * *

Beth trekked up the path from the landing site toward the house, pulling the old green wagon loaded with produce from a farmers' market in Dubuque, Iowa. Her mother was taking the twins for a flight up the Innoko River in her shuttle, giving Beth time to unpack the groceries and have a bath. As she came into view of the house she heard thundering footsteps racing toward her.

"No, Duman!" she shouted, recognizing the sound. She looked around for the monstrous dog and he appeared out of nowhere, even more frantic than usual. He probably missed Khan as much as the rest of them. Beth felt a short-lived moment of empathy for the beast before he bullied her against a tree, holding her in place with his weight as he sniffed her all over.

"Where do you think I've been?" she asked, and swatted the dog's nose when he buried it in her crotch. "And who do you think has been down there?"

Satisfied that she was unsullied, Duman circled around her, barking anxiously. "What is wrong with you?" she asked, wiping his drool off her thighs and straightening her shorts and tank top. She picked up the handle of the wagon again but the dog stood in her way, blocking her. "Move it," she said, trying to shove it along. It was like trying to uproot a tree stump. "Go and find some bear to harass."

And then the dog's curly tail went completely flat and he lowered his head, staring into the trees behind her. He growled, but it was more than a growl, it was more like the guttural roar of a lion. Beth shivered and backed away from the dog as it leaped into the forest as though launched from a slingshot.

Whatever creature Duman had heard or smelled, she didn't want to be around to listen to it being torn to shreds. Dragging the wagon behind her she ran up the path the rest of the way to the house.

The front door opened automatically for her, and Beth stumbled through it, making sure it closed behind her so the dog couldn't follow. Thankfully Khan had not thought to program the dogs' genetic fingerprint into the bio-scanner that controlled the door.

Still feeling shaken, she left the wagon in the front hall and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water. She stopped in the doorway, her jaw dropping in shock.

"Khan!"

He turned as she ran towards him, taking a step back against the cabinets as she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oh God, I'm so glad to see you!" she exclaimed, hugging him and kissing him on the mouth, laughing with happiness as he just stood there. No wonder Duman was acting so crazy - he was overexcited that his master was home.

"Beth?" Khan said, putting his hands on her shoulders and gently prying her off him.

She grinned up at him, touching his short hair. "I can't believe you cut it!" she said. "When did you decide to do that?" She ran her hand over his forehead, where his hair used to hang down sometimes. He stared into her face as she touched him, giving her a crooked, almost disbelieving smile. Then he looked down at his hands, still on her bare shoulders, and squeezed them slowly, almost experimentally, rubbing them along her skin. "But it's cute," she assured him, laughing again. "It makes you look younger."

"Beth," he said, taking his hands off her shoulders and wiping them on his gray shirt like they were dirty. His shirt was already stained, and torn in a couple of places. She didn't recognize it and it was not like Khan to be less than perfectly tailored. She put her hands on it, feeling the coarse material and his chest beneath. He'd lost a lot of weight in the last five days, and he was so brown. Had he been relaxing in the sun this whole time on Golana?

But she didn't care. He was home and she was so happy to see him. She'd done her best to keep herself distracted while he was gone, and she'd done her worst to make him miss her, but now all she wanted was to kiss him and undress him and let him take her right there on the kitchen floor.

He opened his mouth to speak but "Wait," was all he got out before Beth put her hands on the back of his head and pulled him down, sliding her tongue between his lips. His whole body stiffened in surprise - he was not used to her being so demanding - but a moment later his arms were around her, pulling her against him, a deep moan of desire rising out of his throat as he slid his hands down her body and gripped her buttocks.

His fingers dug into her bare skin under her shorts as he pulled her off her feet. He was so hard - she could feel it through their clothes as he moved her up and down, rubbing her groin against his erection. He had never done that before and the way it hit her clitoris drove Beth crazy.

"Oh, God!" she cried as he bit her neck, sucking hard on her skin. She wrapped her legs around him, holding onto him tight as he moved one hand up to slide it under her shirt. He pulled back to look at her chest as his hand snaked into her bra.

"Did you say you wanted to wait?" she teased, and licked her tongue over his lips as he kneaded her breast in his strong hand.

He laughed, looking at her incredulously, like he was seeing her for the first time. "Fuck, no."

* * *

**:)**

**I changed the cover picture for this chapter - the picture right now is supposed to be Matthew. I made it in a morph tool to create a younger, friskier version of Khan. Can you guess which other actor I morphed him with? I was going to use a younger picture of Benedict Cumberbatch, but but none of them had the right vibe for an Augment (plus that would have been too easy lol). **

**BUT I will keep the shirtless (wet!) Khan photo as my main cover picture - there have been a couple of appreciative comments for it and I find it quite inspirational :)**

**I hope you liked this chapter. What do we think of Khan's plan to make Beth "normal"? Or Duman being created with Khan's augment genes? And Matthew... I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with Matthew, if Khan doesn't kill him first!**

**Thanks for reading,**

**xo**


	4. Chapter 4

**Quick clarification on the last chapter, after receiving a concerned PM. Khan was _not_ making plans to leave Beth and his family. That is the last thing he would do, but it _is_ something he would do if it was his only option to keep them safe. Specifically, this is not a New Moon sequel where Khan disappears for most of the story so Beth can explore her feelings for someone else. Nothing wrong with New Moon, but this is very different :)**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – The Uninvited**

"There is nothing here."

Spock checked the last empty closet in the last empty bedroom and listened to Lucy curse in the hall.

"Is it still bleeding?" he asked, joining her and gently taking her arm. "May I?" He turned her wrist to look at the large dog bite. She glanced up at him as he examined the deep wound. "It should be treated," he said. "There are supplies on the ship."

"I'm not going outside again," she said. "Not with that horse on the loose, attacking people."

"It is not a normal dog," Spock agreed, still feeling the sting from the bite on his leg. Matthew had tried stunning the dog with his phaser, and Spock had managed a Vulcan nerve pinch, but their efforts had only served to aggravate it further. "I believe Khan has modified it somehow," he said.

"An Augment dog?" Lucy asked, disbelieving. "Around his children?"

"His half-Augment children," Spock reminded her, though he agreed it was dangerous. The only reason they had escaped worse injury was because the bio-scanner on the front door of the house had mistaken Matthew's genetic fingerprint for Khan's and let them inside before they could be properly mauled.

They had descended to the second floor when Lucy's communicator began to beep.

"Who is it?" Spock asked. Their delegation had split into three groups to locate Khan: Spock, Matthew and Lucy were at the house, Chase and Hatari were searching the grounds, and Arma and Brann were down at the river.

Lucy pulled Spock into a room off the hall so they could not be overheard. "It's Commissioner Graves."

They were in the master bedroom and Spock went directly to the large bed in the middle of the room. He had resisted the urge during their initial sweep, but this time he lay a hand on top of the sheets.

Some Vulcans could telepathically read images, emotions and events from touching objects. Spock had never had that gift, but even he could feel the energy radiating off the bed. It was loving and sensual, but also overwhelming and dangerous. Spock could sense Khan's consuming need for Beth, and how thinly he was able to control himself.

Lucy nudged Spock, looking at him curiously. She held her communicator between them so they could both hear the Commissioner.

"You've kept me waiting," he said, his voice quiet but compelling. "Do you have a lock on Khan?"

"No," Lucy said. "We're still trying to confirm his location."

"There's a ground battalion on standby, Lucy. You give them a target or I will."

"We will let you know as soon as Khan arrives," Spock interjected. "Once I have moved Beth and her children to safety."

"You mean Lieutenant Walker?"

"Yes."

"She's a Starfleet officer, Mr. Spock, she knows what Khan is. Her children are Khan's children, I'm won't let him hide behind them. Their safety is not my concern."

As Graves bellowed over the comm., Spock thought of his first encounter with the man. It had left Spock feeling compromised and unbalanced. He felt that way again now.

"And I want your coordinates," Graves continued. "There's a force field interfering with your signal and we can't trace you."

"I'll send them," Lucy volunteered. "And Commissioner, I have another matter to discuss with you."

Spock raised an eyebrow at his partner as she switched her communicator to private mode and turned away from him. He left the bedroom and closed the door, certain Lucy was telling Graves that Spock was a liability to the operation.

Perhaps she had noticed the way he was now referring to Starfleet as "you" and "them" instead of "we" and "us". Had he been working with the Augments for so long that he was beginning to feel more aligned with their mission to defend their home planet than Starfleet's mission to arrest Khan?

Spock was pondering this when he heard voices downstairs. One of them was a woman. He knew instantly it was Beth. The other voice… it could be Matthew or it could be Khan. He quietly descended the stairs, his phaser drawn.

As he walked toward the kitchen he kept his eyes down so he wouldn't have to look at the framed plant and insect specimens hanging on the wall. They were from the planet Centula and it offended him that Khan wanted to keep souvenirs from that time, as though it was some vacation they had all taken together.

He stood outside the kitchen for a moment, and could clearly hear two people inside. They weren't talking so much as uttering breathless words of encouragement to each other. Spock peered around the door frame, guessing what he would see, but completely unprepared for how he would feel when he saw it.

Beth was sitting on the kitchen counter with Khan… no, Matthew, standing between her legs. Her top had been pulled down under her breasts and Matthew held her head in his hands as he kissed her. It was a deep kiss, slow and profound. His thumbs circled around the shells of her ears as she moaned into his mouth, so yielding and so reverent.

"Oh, Khan," she sighed as he kissed down her throat, leaving a trail of dark red marks on her skin. "I love you so much."

Matthew's whole body shook with the desire coursing through him, but he managed to stop. He even pulled away.

Spock just stared as Beth's words twisted in his mind. She had said them with no trace of hesitation or coercion. How could she love him... how could anyone love Khan after what he'd done?

"Hurry," she was saying breathlessly, laying back on the counter. "Mom will be home any minute."

So, Beth had found her mother as well. She really did have everything she'd ever wanted; her long-lost mother, her half-Augment children, her psychotic mate, and now a new lover they could torture together.

Matthew could only watch helplessly as Beth unbuttoned her shorts, wriggling her hips as she pushed them down. Spock's mind filled with memories of watching her strip for another Augment. He had been tied up at the time, but he wasn't any longer.

"Get away from her!" he shouted at Matthew as he stepped through the doorway. He raised his phaser and fired.

"No!" Matthew cried, stepping forward, but he was too late. Beth screamed as the red beam of energy flashed across the kitchen. It hit her in the chest, stunning her instantly, and she dropped to the floor with a thud.

* * *

Beth awoke slowly, a smile on her face as Khan's deep voice thrummed gently in and out of her dreams. "That should do it," he was saying. "It might be stiff for a while but it won't hurt."

She felt disoriented and the words made no sense but she didn't mind. "I love you," she sighed, opening her eyes. She was laying on the chaise lounge in his office and he was sitting in the armchair by the fireplace.

He smiled at her, but he also seemed concerned, and a bit sad. "Beth, you hit your head. How does it feel?"

"Fine," she said, and then she pouted at him, squinting through her eyelashes. "Why did you cut your hair off? You know I like to pull on it."

There was movement beside him and Beth realized there was a woman sitting on the arm of the chair. Her feet were in Khan's lap and she was watching Beth through a tangled mess of purple hair.

"What…?" Beth sat up quickly and the room spun around her. Her vision blurred for a second but was too angry to lay back down. "Get off my husband!"

The woman laughed and did not move. Beth thought she must be dreaming, but this was unlike any dream she'd ever had. Khan was still smiling at her, more amused now than concerned as he lifted the woman's feet off his lap.

"Beth?"

She turned in the direction of the voice and saw Spock sitting at the end of the chaise lounge. She just stared at him and then flopped back onto the cushions. Now she knew she was dreaming.

"That man is not your…" He seemed unable to say the word. "He is not Khan."

Beth laughed, playing along. "Who is he then?"

"His name is Matthew. He was engineered in the same facility as Khan, in Istanbul. He is the next generation of the same Augment design."

"Matthew?" Beth giggled. "Matthew's not even an Augment name. He should be called... Titan or Bullet or something."

The woman laughed at that, which irritated Beth, but so did Khan. "Those names were already taken," he said.

The woman laughed again.

"I told you to get off him," Beth snapped, glaring at her.

"It's alright," Khan told her, looking pleased by her jealousy. "I was just fixing her dog bites." He stood, holding up what looked like Beth's own dermal regenerator. "Now it's your turn."

She watched as he came closer, his eyes traveling up and down the length of her body. She felt herself growing warm under his assessment. She was starting to like this dream. "Your dog didn't bite me," she purred, stretching slowly.

Khan's smile was sexy and slow. "No, but I did."

"Matthew!" Spock stood to block Khan's way. He took the dermal regenerator out of his hands and turned to face Beth. "Try to control yourself," he told her, and he kneeled down, roughly turning her head to one side. "I _will_ stun you again."

"Ow!" Beth complained, pushing him away as she felt the sharp sting of the surgical instrument on her neck. If she had been dreaming she was definitely awake now. "Where did you come from? What the hell is going on?" she demanded, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest.

"Matthew gave you several suction marks on your neck and breasts," Spock said, looking at her with clear disapproval. "I believe you would call them love bites."

Beth looked down and saw a big red hickie above her left breast, disappearing down into her tank top. She flushed with embarrassment, glancing up at Khan as she covered it with her hand. It wasn't like him to give her love bites. He didn't want the children or her mother to see them so when he felt the need to mark her during their lovemaking, it was usually on the back of her neck or high on her inner thighs.

"I am removing them before the others find out," Spock continued.

"Others?" For the first time since waking up, Beth heard what Spock had been trying to tell her. She looked up at… "Matthew?"

The man nodded, tilting his head to one side as he gazed down at her.

"But you look just like… and I… and you…"

He nodded again, his sexy smile faltering under Beth's glare.

She remembered the way she had kissed him, and the way he had kissed her back, except he hadn't just kissed her; he had consumed her mouth and skin like he was starving.

"You..." She couldn't speak. Her heart pounded at the memory of his arousal pressing against her. She could still feel his hands on her body, his fingers rubbing between her legs. "How could you do that to me?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I tried to tell you. I tried to make you stop."

"Make _me_ stop?" Beth was mortified as she remembered each time he had hesitated and each time she had kept him from pulling away. He had seen almost everything, touched her almost everywhere. She had ground herself against his penis and he had felt how wet she was, but it hadn't been for him. "I thought you were Khan."

"For the first time in my life, I wish I was."

"And you." She turned to Spock, still hovering between them. She touched the back of her head where it felt swollen and sore. "You stunned me?"

"It was the logical thing to do," Spock said, still with an air of judgment. "Interrupting Matthew in his aroused state would have led to violence and endangered everyone. He was beyond reason and the phaser would have been useless on him."

"Couldn't you tell?" the woman asked, stepping out from behind Matthew. She had a sweet face, but her eyes were far too accusing for Beth's comfort. "Don't you know what your own husband feels like?"

Beth felt her face turning red. It was the same question she'd been asking herself for the past two minutes. "Maybe if I'd known Khan had a twin."

"It's not her fault," Matthew said sharply to the woman.

But she seemed unconvinced. "From what Spock has told me about her, it's not your fault either, but you're the one Khan will kill when he finds out."

"Excuse me, but who _are_ you?" Beth asked her. She turned to Spock. "What have you said about me?"

The woman answered first. "He said he had a similar incident with you when he was still with Starfleet."

"He did?" Matthew asked, his eyes narrowing briefly.

Beth looked down guiltily. She knew the incident the woman referred to. It had almost ruined Spock's career. "You're not with Starfleet anymore?" she asked him. She couldn't imagine Spock as anything but her old senior science officer. "What happened?"

He chose not to answer the question. "This is Lucy," he said instead. "She's with me."

That surprised Beth just as much and she looked at the woman in a new light. "What happened to Lieutenant Uhura?"

"The lieutenant is with the Enterprise, and I am not," he said simply, and Beth couldn't tell if he was suppressing his emotions or had just moved on. "But Lucy is not a romantic partner. We both work with the Augments to defend Wellhaven."

"Wellhaven?"

"It's my home planet," Lucy told her. "The Klingons have been trying to take it over for almost a year. We're not a Federation planet and we don't have enough people for a decent army, so we would have succumbed months ago except for Dyret and Arma and the Augments."

"Dyret and Arma are here?" Beth asked Spock. "You said there were others? How did you find us?"

She would have to call her mother, to warn her and ask her to take the children through the tunnels to avoid their uninvited guests. She trusted Arma and Dyret, but she also knew other Augments might resent Khan's natural-born children.

"Arma knew where you were. She's contacting Khan now and asking him to come home early. She says she and Khan have been in regular contact," Spock said.

"You didn't know?" Lucy asked, and Beth could have sworn she saw the young woman smirk. But Beth _hadn't_ known. Why would Khan keep something like that from her?

"And Dyret?" she asked. For some reason that wiped the smile off Lucy's face. She and Spock shared a meaningful look, and it was Matthew who answered.

"He died, Beth. He was killed by Klingons, just yesterday."

"Oh." Beth was shocked. She had only known him a few minutes, but she could remember Dyret's young face so clearly, always smiling, his blue eyes so bright and kind. "I'm sorry. He was so... good."

"The best," Matthew agreed.

"Is that why you're here? To tell Khan?" Beth guessed.

Matthew opened his mouth but Spock cut him off. "Arma will want to talk to you and Khan together," he said. "But before then, may I finish removing the marks on your skin?"

"I'm the doctor here," Matthew said, stepping forward and holding out his hand for the dermal regenerator. "I'll make sure there's no residual tissue trauma."

"No," Beth said quickly. "I don't want you touching me again."

He looked disappointed, but nodded and stepped back.

"I've done it to myself before," Beth said, taking the device from Spock. "To remove bruises after fighting with Khan."

"Bruises?" Spock asked quickly. "He hits you?"

Beth stood and went to the cupboard beside Khan's desk. "I don't mean when we argue," she explained. "He's teaching me how to fight." She opened the cupboard door to look in the mirror behind it. Her neck was a mess, more red than white skin. She cast an angry look at Matthew, who had the decency to look ashamed. "I'll remove these so Khan doesn't get even more upset, but he will still need to know."

"You'd tell him?" Lucy asked. "You know Matthew tried to stop. And nothing really happened anyway."

Beth understood, and she felt partially responsible. She should have paid attention when Matthew had tried to stop her. As an Augment, his reaction to her anomaly would have been instantaneous, but on the other hand Augment reactions were supposed to be more controlled. "It will be a lot worse for everyone if Khan finds out after we lie about it," she said.

Lucy laughed coldly. "Worse for you, maybe."

"That's enough, Lucy," Matthew said. He turned to Beth. "It's alright, I don't want to get you in trouble. Khan won't kill me."

Beth suddenly remembered something Khan had told her once, in relation to Dyret. He'd said that each generation of Augment was stronger and faster and smarter than the previous generation. If Matthew was a later generation than Khan... "Would you hurt him?" she asked Matthew.

He laughed at the idea. "I'm a medic, not a soldier. I couldn't beat Khan in a fight even if he had both hands tied behind his back and I was holding a photon cannon. But Arma wouldn't let him actually kill me. He'll rough me up and then I'll probably be exiled."

"You'd lose your crew?" Beth asked, knowing how much that had hurt Khan. They were like his family, and in a way that made Matthew like _her_ family. "I'm sorry," she told him. "But Khan would know I'm hiding something. He knows me too well." She held up the dermal regenerator. "If there was a machine to just erase the memory as well, I would use it."

He nodded, and gave her one of Khan's crooked smiles.

"But there is!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed. She turned to Spock, putting an excited hand on his arm.

"No," he said immediately.

Beth was confused. "What is it?"

"No," Spock said again.

"He could do a mind meld with you," Lucy said. "_He_ could erase the memory."

"Lucy, I said no."

"Could you?" Beth asked him. She'd had Spock in her head once before and he had saved her from a very painful memory. He had not erased it, but he had softened it for her, as if holding her hand through the ordeal.

"I will not do that. It is unethical." Spock said.

"Unethical?" Lucy laughed and for some reason that angered him.

"I do not have many ethics left, Lucy. Let me at least keep this one."

"Then it will be your fault..." she began.

"No," Beth interrupted, wondering why Spock listened to anything this toxic woman had to say. Beth would not let her decision be anyone else's burden. She turned to Matthew. "I don't want you to lose your family. I won't tell Khan what we did, but if he suspects, or asks me a direct question, I can't promise to lie either."

Matthew seemed surprised by her decision, and deeply moved. "Thank you," he said, smiling at her with deep gratitude and an affection that suggested he might be reading more into her decision than she'd intended. As Beth looked at Lucy, who was smiling at her smugly, she wondered if the decision had even been her own.

* * *

**Another glimpse at Spock's head space and all the trouble he's causing, as well as Beth's reaction to everything with Matthew. Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading, and for the new follows and favs, and thanks to these kind folks for reviewing:**

**rem, FecklessFemale, WhitneyG, CLTex, Pint-sized She-Bear, In a World of My Own, Mrs. Cumberbatch, TheJewellersHand and Guest**

**xo**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lots going on with Spock up to this point and I really appreciate the comments I've gotten about his character and POV. I know it takes time to give that kind of feedback in reviews and/or PMs, and as an author it is always very helpful to get reader opinions :)**

**Thanks also to those faving and following, and to these sweeties for their reviews and encouragement of the latest chapter: BigStraightCrush, shippolove844, CLTex, April, WhitneyG, Pint-sized She-Bear, Lathril Luinwe, ****TheJewellersHand, ****Just Pam.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – First Impressions**

Khan climbed out of his jump ship, his senses on high alert. There were people on his property. Even if he hadn't been contacted by Arma, he would have sensed it. There were new smells and new sounds, and the absence of other smells and sounds as animals cleared the forest to avoid the new arrivals.

He made a bee-line for the riverfront, where he heard voices - the kind of strong, clear, precise voices that he had been missing for so long.

"Brann!" he shouted in greeting to his tall Nordic friend, who stood naked on the shore, his feet in the ice-cold water.

Brann turned, a smile on his face but deep sadness in his eyes. "Khan!" he called, and the two men hugged like brothers.

"I'm sorry about Dyret," Khan told him. He knew that all the Augments were heartbroken over the loss of their leader and friend, but Brann's bond with Dyret had been especially strong.

"He was too good for that kind of death," Hatari said, walking out of the river towards them. She was also completely naked, her beautiful dark skin glistening with water.

"Hatari!" Khan hugged her as well, barely noticing her nakedness, not caring that his clothes were getting wet.

"I missed you, Khan," she told him, her voice solemn and sincere. "We need you."

He nodded. Arma had warned him why they were there. "I missed you also. Why are you all swimming?"

She looked over her shoulder at the others still in the water. Khan shaded his eyes with his hand and saw Chase, the red-haired Celt, and Matthew, Khan's own younger twin, swimming towards them. "We've been catching pike for your..." Hatari paused and said the word with skeptical amusement, "_Wife_? She has invited us to dinner."

Khan looked around, his heart speeding up as he thought of Beth surrounded by all these Augments. "Where is she?"

Matthew answered, wading out of the water with a spotted, three-foot pike wriggling in his bare hands. Matthew was wearing a pair of black undershorts, the only one of them not completely naked. "Beth is up at the house with Spock and Lucy. Arma is off somewhere with your dog, trying to teach it some manners."

"Thank you," Khan said, unable to believe that Spock was actually in his house. He had scarcely believed it when Arma had first told him about Spock approaching Dyret after being dismissed from Starfleet, and he'd been even more surprised that Dyret had allowed a half-Vulcan to join his crew.

"And Khan," Matthew called after him. "You should have warned Beth about me. I gave her quite a shock."

Khan nodded curtly, wishing they had waited for his arrival before approaching Beth, but also knowing Matthew was right that he should have warned her. "Come up to the house when you're dressed."

He thought of all the other things he probably should have told Beth, like his ongoing contact with Arma, especially the meetings he'd had with her in person over the past year. Their relationship was purely platonic now, but in their early twenties he and Arma had formed a romantic and sexual attachment. If Beth found out about that connection in addition to the secret meetings, would she even give Khan a chance to explain?

He'd tried to keep his two families separated for the past year, mainly for the safety of Beth and his children, but now his two worlds were colliding and Khan wasn't sure how to avoid being crushed between them.

He leapt up the hillside rather than taking the winding path, and as he got close to the house he could smell Beth's cooking and hear her laughter. He felt relief that she was safe and happy, but also jealousy that she was cooking for someone else and that he didn't know what she found so amusing.

Rather than going in through the front door, he circled around the back, letting himself in through the mudroom. He took the back stairs to the second level and went through the rooms, looking for anything out of place. He ended up in the nursery and then the master bedroom, where he took extra time to check the bed and bathroom for signs of use. In the bed he smelled only Beth and the children, and for a brief moment he felt a sense of serenity as he imagined them all snuggling together, maybe talking about him and missing him as they drifted off to sleep at night.

But then he began to sense Spock in the room, and that alone was enough to get his heart racing again, until he also sensed the presence of a woman he didn't know, presumably this Lucy. Beth must have given them a tour of the house, as was the human custom, but the thought of another man being in his bedroom with his wife, even with a chaperone, felt like a violation.

Khan quickly changed out of his wet clothes into a light-weight navy shirt, dark gray pants and clean black boots before heading downstairs. He was unsure about seeing Spock again - they had been on fairly civil terms the last time he'd seen the Vulcan on Centula but that had been almost two years ago and he didn't know how things might have changed in that time.

But most of all Khan was excited to see Beth. He wished he could send everyone else away so he could be alone with her that night, but they had all come so far to see him. When he walked into the kitchen there could have been a hundred people in the room and he wouldn't have noticed. All he saw was Beth. She was standing by the stove, wearing a plain green shirtdress and leather sandals. Her long honey-blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, but she had never looked more beautiful to Khan.

Her cheeks were pink from standing by the warm oven, or perhaps from laughing. She was covering her mouth and laughing when she saw him. Instantly, her body language changed, but not in the way Khan would have hoped. She turned her shoulders away from him, her smile fading, and she glanced nervously at Spock and the woman sitting at the kitchen table.

Khan went to her side, seeing her shrink away from him, although she managed a weak, apprehensive smile as she turned to let him kiss her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a low voice, touching her shoulder and fighting the urge to crush her in his arms.

"Yes," she said, nodding and touching his shoulder as well. Her hand was shaking.

"What is it, Beth?"

"Spock is here," she said, forcing brightness into her voice and holding out a hand as though Khan could have walked right past the Vulcan without noticing. "Can you believe it?"

"Frankly, no," Khan said, but he turned to face their audience. "How are you, Spock? And you, Lucy?" He didn't bother saying it was good to see them. He saw no point in telling lies when they wouldn't be believed.

Spock nodded civilly and Lucy just gave Khan an evaluating once over with her eyes, taking in his clean clothes and shoes, and then looking at Beth's tense face. She was observant, he decided, and clever and calculating. No wonder Dyret had wanted her.

"Where are Taren and Allister?" he asked Beth, and as it often did, the thought of her children seemed to calm her.

"With my mom," she told him, her smile warming. "Do you want to say hello?"

He nodded and watched her check the oven before leading the way into the hall.

As soon as they were around the corner from the kitchen, Khan put his hand on Beth's arm, making her wait.

"Come here," was all he said before picking her up and pulling her against his chest. He held her tight and breathed deeply with a kind of relief, absorbing her warmth, imagining that his heart was synchronizing with hers. He leaned her gently against the wall and she rested her hands on his shoulders, placing a careful kiss upon his cheek.

She'd recently showered. He could smell her sweet pea and honeysuckle soap beneath a layer of lotion, baby powder and deodorant. She knew he didn't like her to wear perfume, and this was almost as obfuscating. It took a long time for her natural scent to reach him but the instant it did he felt himself relax.

"I missed having you in my arms," he crooned quietly, leaving her pinned to the wall with his body as his hands molded their way down her hips. She felt so soft, so supple. He turned his face into her neck, kissing it lightly, sighing against her skin.

It was like he had bitten her. She gasped and pushed him away, covering her neck with her hand.

"Not with people in the house," she said, looking embarrassed as she raced ahead of him, knocking quickly on the door that led to her mother's rooms. She entered the security code without waiting and let herself inside. Khan followed slowly, frowning with displeasure. After almost a week of Beth remotely throwing herself at him, this was not the welcome home he had expected.

But his children could not have been happier to see him and Khan let their enthusiasm soothe the insult of their mother's reticence. Even Allister, normally a man of few words, bubbled over in his excitement to tell Khan about their adventures while he was away. Khan sat with them for several minutes as their large white dogs circled around them before he realized that Beth had left the room.

Deciding that if his worlds were going to collide, he might as well get it over with, Khan carried Allister and Taren through to the main house, where he could hear more voices coming from the living room.

"Beth," he called to her when he found her, knowing it sounded like a summons because that's exactly what it was. She was standing beside the sofa, talking to Brann. There was no longer a trace of sadness in the blond Viking's eyes as he stared down at her, completely transfixed.

She jumped at her name, and again her smile faded when she saw Khan. Trying not to scowl, he handed her Allister. "Please don't go off on your own," he told her, wishing she didn't have to be told. She nodded, rubbing Allister's back as the little boy looked around cautiously at all the new faces.

"Are you sure about introducing the children?" she whispered to Khan.

"I think it's inevitable," he told her. "And these are good people. They won't hurt any of you."

Chase was the first to approach the children, and Taren was immediately enchanted by his red bushy beard. The toddler clung onto it and would not let it go, not even for one of her favorite oatmeal cookies. It was only when Khan had a quiet, reasoned word in her ear about the importance of politeness that she deigned to let Chase have his face back.

Brann was next, and this time Allister was the more impressed. "Lift me," he commanded Brann, reaching his arms up in the air. Brann was the tallest man Allister had ever seen and Khan nodded to Beth to let Brann take her son and raise him high above his head. The little boy continued to stretch his own arms up and between Brann's reach and Allister stretching as far as he could, Allister's small fingers were able to brush against the ceiling.

"Huh," he mused, clearly unimpressed. Apparently the ceiling was not everything he'd imagined it would be. Khan and the others laughed as Allister reached down for his mother to take him back.

Arma was next, along with Hatari, and Khan did feel his first moment of concern, though it was not concern for his family. The women seemed to be affected differently than the men; their tone was less playful and more introspective. Arma in particular spent a long time trying to balance Allister on her slender hips which were clearly not designed for carrying children, unlike Beth's most-suitable curves. Khan wondered what Arma was thinking as she held her former-lover's child, knowing she could never have given it to him.

But that troubled him far less than what the men were thinking as they turned their attention from the children to Beth, perhaps the only woman alive who could give them a direct blood descendant. He didn't think any of the men in that room would try to take her for themselves, but Khan also knew every one of them was thinking about it.

Khan noticed Matthew watching from a corner of the room. He did not approach until Beth waved Spock and Lucy over. Only then did Matthew join them, still keeping his distance as Taren played with Lucy's purple hair and tried to reach for Spock's pointy ears. But Allister had eyes only for Matthew. Those eyes were suspicious as he tried to understand who this man was that looked almost exactly like his father. Even after Khan tried to explain to him, he could only turn into his mother's comforting embrace and bawl, something he hadn't done since mastering full sentences.

"Oh, Allie," Beth laughed, jiggling Allister up and down. "I know how you feel, that was my first reaction, too. But he's okay. He's your uncle. He's your Uncle Matthew."

But as Khan looked at Matthew's face he didn't think Matthew was satisfied at the prospect of being just their uncle. He was as drawn to Allister as Allister had been to him, most likely because the little boy closely resembled his own visage as much as Khan's.

At least Matthew, unlike the other men, did not seek out opportunities to be close to Beth, nor find excuses to touch her hand or arm. Khan knew those men were just curious, and to forbid it would only make them more curious. But Matthew kept his distance, perhaps out of respect for Khan, or because he'd already had that experience and knew better than to try having it again.

"I think they're getting tired," Beth said to Khan, smoothing her son's ruffled hair and kissing his brow. "I'll take them back to Mom's. She says she'll mind them tonight."

"I'll help," he told her, not wanting to let her out of his sight. He loved being with friends again, but having so many men under his roof was unsettling and Khan felt his need to reconnect with Beth growing stronger by the minute. He wanted her attention and affection and he wanted to know everything she'd done while he was gone; everywhere she'd been, everyone she'd seen, everything she'd said to them.

Together they settled the children in cots in Deanna's spare room. Beth's mother seemed nervous about the Augment visitors, but did not question why they were there.

When Beth went into the bathroom to wash her hands, Khan followed her closely, surprising her and closing the door after them.

"Khan..." she started to say, but he couldn't wait any longer.

He leaned against her as she stood by the wash basin, pressing her into the cool porcelain. Placing his hands on her arms, he squeezed them firmly so she wouldn't think of pulling away again. "Please, just let me touch you," he said, and he didn't even mean in a sexual way, although his growing arousal probably gave her a different impression. She let him hold her as she washed her hands and Khan noticed the new gold bracelet around her right wrist.

"Who gave you that?" he asked her, knowing it came out like an accusation. He _was_ jealous; Khan had acquired many rare and exotic pieces of jewelry for Beth, all of which she claimed to love, but never wore.

She looked down and turned the slender band around her wrist and Khan saw that it was covered in numbers that were constantly changing. He recognized some of the numbers as her heart rate and blood pressure. "It's a monitor," he said.

"I got it from my doctor on my last visit," she said.

"Why? Are you alright?" Khan asked, alarmed by the thought of her getting sick.

"I'm fine." Her eyes flickered nervously to look at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He could see her blushing again. "It just measures my vitals and my hormones. It's a fertility monitor."

"Oh." Khan felt his grip tighten on her as he pulled her back against him. "And are you fertile?" he murmured, close to her ear.

She laughed, turning the taps off in the sink. "Almost, it says I'm going to ovulate in..." She checked the bracelet.

"Six days," Khan told her, hearing his voice grow thick with desire at the thought. "Do you think I need something to tell me when you're in heat?"

He felt her take a deep breath and she bit her bottom lip. Staring at her in the mirror, Khan ran his hands down her arms and back up her body, cupping her breasts and squeezing them through her dress. He wanted her so badly but she began to twist away from him again. He let her go, just for the pleasure of trapping her against the wall and backing her into a corner.

"Khan," she said as he touched her face, running his fingers lightly down her cheek, and then under her chin to tilt it up.

"Mm?" he asked, bending down to kiss her. Her lips were soft and warm and Khan kept his kiss gentle, just brushing his mouth over hers, breathing on her face, letting her get used to being close to him again.

"They'll hear," she said.

Khan knew she meant his crew. Some of them had such sensitive hearing they could probably hear this whispered conversation. "Good," he said. He wanted them to hear. He wanted them to know Beth was his. He wanted them to smell his scent on her and feel his heat on her skin.

"Not now," she said, although her arching back sent a different message. "Later?"

Khan kissed her again, this time more firmly, his tongue persisting as she hesitated to part her lips for him. Her reluctance made him want to claim her even more.

"When?" he asked, feeling her body respond to him despite herself. He ducked to reach a hand under her skirt and she trapped it between her closed thighs. She could not have aroused him more if she'd spread her legs.

"After dinner," she promised, brushing his hair back from his forehead and kissing him, this time offering her own tongue and moaning as he sucked it into his mouth.

God, he had missed her so much. Khan could wait until later for his own release, but he didn't want to let go of her. He could smell her arousal and he felt a desperate need to taste her and please her. "Let me lick you," he said. "All I've been thinking about for the past five days is making you cum." He wanted to feel her body tremble against him, he wanted to hear her gasps of pleasure as she tried to keep them quiet. "Please, let me do that for you,"

She let her legs relax, allowing his hand access to her underwear, but the second he touched her sex she pushed him away again.

Growling with frustration, Khan withdrew his hand, but leaned his weight against her, holding her in place. He put his mouth against her ear, enunciating every word so she wouldn't miss a single syllable. "I am going to lock you in a room and keep you full of my sperm until you're pregnant."

She whimpered softly, shivering as he released her. He stepped back to watch her and enjoy the way she tried to stand up straight and tried to laugh him off and tried to imagine that he did not mean every word he said.

* * *

Beth stood in the kitchen and watched Khan outside talking with his crew as he grilled the fish they had caught. He was shaken by the news of Dyret's death, but he also looked content to be with his friends again. It pleased her to see Khan so alert and mentally engaged in a way he rarely was with her. She knew he was seriously under-stimulated in some ways in Alaska, and she was glad she hadn't ruined this visit by telling him about the misunderstanding with Matthew. She didn't know how she was going to keep it from him, but she knew she had to. She wanted this visit from the Augments to be the first of many.

"Did he fuck you yet?"

Beth jumped and turned to see Matthew standing behind her, on the other side of the kitchen island. She was suddenly very aware that this was the room where she had first met him and almost... she coughed, forcing herself to think about something else.

"If I were him I'd have you the second I walked through the door."

"He tried," Beth said, not knowing why she told him.

"You didn't let him?" Matthew asked, raising his eyebrow. "I'm glad."

"I didn't do it for you."

"I don't like seeing him with you. I don't like the way he looks at you. I don't like the idea of him touching you."

"He's my husband. I love him. He's the only one who gets to touch me."

"Maybe before you met me."

Beth gaped at his arrogance. "Do you have a death wish? What happened earlier is one thing but I won't let you talk to me like that. I'll tell Khan."

"I think I _would_ try to fight him for you," Matthew mused. "I might surprise myself."

"Like I would have you," she sneered.

But he just smiled and spread his hands over the countertop. Beth knew he was thinking about almost being with her. "Your body has already told me that you would."

She glared, feeling her face turn bright red. "I should just ask Spock."

"Ask him what?" Matthew asked suspiciously and Beth wondered if now she would have to deal with an even more possessive version of Khan in her life.

"I could convince him to wipe that memory, from both of us."

That shut him up, at least for a moment. He looked offended. "I wouldn't let him take it from me if he tried, and I want you to remember as well. The next time Khan does touch you I want you to think of me."

Beth looked away, knowing she probably would whether she liked it or not. Not because she wanted him, but because he would always be a secret she kept from her husband. But as she watched Khan outside bonding with his friends she knew she couldn't bear to tell him either. It would change things between them forever, and his connection to the Augments would suffer if he hurt Matthew and sent him away. All because of her and her anomaly. She couldn't do that to him, but if things were ever going to be the same again she would have to forget what had happened with Matthew, one way or another.

* * *

"Spock, please," Beth begged, keeping her voice down even though they were in the office with the door closed and everyone else was outside.

He had stopped telling her no and just stared out the window at the sun getting low behind the trees. "It is very beautiful here."

"I can't keep doing this," she said. "Every time Khan touches me it's like I'm lying to his face. I keep thinking he'll be able to tell."

"He will be able to tell if you keep thinking it."

"That's why I need you to wipe the memory. It was a mistake, an honest mistake."

"Then he should be able to understand."

Beth laughed. "Did you see him tonight? He's like a sheep dog herding me around his friends. I'm amazed he let you out of his sight. If he finds out about Matthew he'll send all of you away."

That did get Spock's attention. "We can't leave yet."

"I don't want you to leave either. Khan needs to be around his people and I really am happy to see you, Spock." She put a hand on his arm. "And I'm sorry about Starfleet. What made you leave?"

Spock turned to her and for a moment Beth thought he was going to tell her something he had been wanting to say for a long time, maybe to anyone but especially to her. But then he looked back out the window. "Erasing memories in a mind meld is reserved for extreme situations, Beth. It is not to be used to cover up infidelity, no matter how regrettable the consequences."

Beth went and sat on the lounge. "What's the point of being a telepath if you can't use it to help your friends?"

He made a skeptical sound. "Are we friends, Beth?"

She wasn't sure anymore. Once he had been her only friend, or at least the closest thing to it.

Suddenly the door opened and Lucy rushed in. "Spock, why are you hiding in here? Admiral Caine is trying to reach you."

He turned quickly, "No," and looked right through Lucy to where Beth was still sitting on the lounge.

Lucy turned, following Spock's eyes. "Oh, shit," she said when she saw Beth.

It took a moment for Beth to realize what Lucy had even said. "Admiral Caine?" She could remember a Captain Caine from her time in Starfleet, but why would Spock need to contact anyone from Starfleet?

"Beth," Spock said, moving slowly towards her as Lucy went to the office door and blocked it. It was their reaction more than anything that alerted Beth something was wrong.

"You never left Starfleet, did you?" she asked Spock, and the instant she had the thought all of the pieces fell into place. "You're here for Khan!"

She opened her mouth to scream. She knew Khan would hear her. So did Spock and he put his hand over her mouth, pushing her back against the lounge. "I'm sorry, Beth, I wanted to keep you out of this."

Out of it? He wanted her husband, how did he think he was going to keep her out of it? She struggled and kicked against him, but he was strong and could pin her almost as well as Khan. She felt a stab of fear as she realized he was strong enough to really hurt her husband.

"What is she even doing here?" Lucy hissed, peering through a crack in the door.

"You put the idea in her head," Spock said. "She wanted me to wipe the memory for her."

Lucy laughed and Beth knew her first impression of Lucy had been correct; she really was a toxic bitch. "I don't think you have a choice now, Spock," she said, and she came to help him hold Beth down. "But not just one memory. Better make it two."

* * *

Beth felt Spock enter her mind like a rat crawling up the leg of her pants. He hadn't bit her yet, but it was just a matter of time, and the longer he spent in there, the worse it would be. Surely she would be missed in a few minutes. She only had to hold him off until then. She could feel Spock efficiently scanning her memories for the one of Lucy bursting in on them. She tried to hide it from him, but that seemed to only bring it to the front of her mind and an instant later it was gone.

Beth relaxed, not even sure why she'd been so tense. She was grateful to Spock for doing this for her. The pair of hands around her wrists let her go and she barely noticed as someone opened the office door, set the lock and pulled it closed.

Spock found the memory of her and Matthew in the kitchen, except that as she relived it, it was not a memory of Matthew, it was a memory of Khan because he had been the one in her mind at that moment.

She felt her love for her husband and her need to share that love with him. She felt the heat of her desire as it rubbed against his, and the billowing of the fire that burned so strongly between them.

At the same time she also felt a strange anger towards Khan. She wanted him to know how much he had hurt her, and how he did not deserve to be free and happy.

"No," she said to Spock, realizing that it was _his_ anger that she felt. "He's more than that."

She needed him to believe her, and she opened the rest of her memories to him. One by one she showed him how gentle and brave and kind Khan could be - a devoted father, a loving husband, a fearless freedom fighter. But at every turn she could feel the cool restraint of Spock's judgment and an almost-irrational conviction that nothing could ever justify Khan's actions.

She felt a grim satisfaction that soon Khan would pay for his cruelty. She would give the word to Starfleet that he had arrived at the compound and she and Lucy would take Beth and her children in the Augment's ship...

"Wait," Beth thought, trying to separate her thoughts from Spock's. "Starfleet is here?"

As soon as she had the thought it was gone from her mind, leaving only a residue of déjà vu. As she tried to grasp the memory she felt another slip out of her mind, and then another, and then a new memory appeared that was not quite her own, where she saw herself through someone else's eyes.

"Stop!" she cried, throwing up mental walls where she could, but feeling Spock trying to tear them down just as fast.

"I'm sorry," he was telling her and she could sense his panic. "Let me fix this. Let me make this right."

* * *

Khan turned to glance back at the window where Beth had been standing for the past half hour. She was gone, and when he turned back two minutes later she was still missing.

He did a quick inventory of the Augments around him and they were all accounted for, even the women.

But then he noticed Lucy's purple hair as she rejoined the group and Khan realized that Spock was not among them.

"Can you finish here?" he asked Arma, handing her the grilling fork as it flashed through his mind that it would make a decent weapon.

He went into the kitchen and saw Beth's beet salad on the counter, half finished. There was smoke coming from the oven where her bread was beginning to burn. He turned it off, looking around for signs of a struggle. There were none so at least she had not been taken, but the thought that she had gone somewhere willingly with Spock was even worse. And to think he had been worried about Matthew.

Beth had never locked a door against Khan in their whole time together, but before he even put his hand on the closed office door, Khan knew it would be locked. He did not knock or call to her. Whatever she was doing, he had to see it for himself.

There were footsteps behind him but he didn't care. He shouldered through the reinforced door and stared in shock at Beth laying on the chaise lounge with Spock leaning over her, one hand on her shoulder, his other hand touching her face.

It was not possible. Khan knew how much she loved him, it was the only thing he could be sure about when nothing else seemed real.

"Wait," Matthew said, coming up behind him, but his words had the opposite effect. Khan launched himself at Spock, grabbing him and throwing him roughly to the ground.

The Vulcan half breed stared up, dazed and weakened. It would be so easy for Khan to crush his windpipe or break his neck with one kick. He should have done it two years ago when he'd first had the chance.

"Get Beth out of here," he growled at Matthew, though part of him wanted her to witness what he was about to do, in case she had any misunderstanding about the consequences of letting another man touch her.

He picked Spock up by his shirt and slammed him back onto the floor as hard as he could.

"Khan, don't," Matthew said, actually daring to put his hands on Khan's shoulders, trying to restrain him. But then there were another pair of hands, and another as the room filled with his friends.

Khan looked up and saw Matthew sitting beside Beth, who was still lying on the lounge like she was having an afternoon nap.

"Khan, something's wrong," Matthew was saying, and it took a long time for Khan to hear the words. "She's unconscious."

Khan watched Matthew pull Beth's eyelids back and carefully shake her shoulders. "Beth!" he shouted, "Beth, can you hear me?"

Spock groaned, trying to push Khan off him. Khan wanted to kill him more than ever but he just grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look at Beth. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded. "What did you do?"

Spock blinked as he seemed to come out of a trance. "Beth," he said.

"What did you do to her?" Khan asked again, shaking Spock until he focused on the question.

But even then Spock just shook his head. "I do not know."

"What do you mean, you do not know?"

"Spock, did you mind meld with Beth?" Matthew asked.

The Vulcan nodded slowly, and the thought of Spock being inside Beth's head was just as abhorrent to Khan as him being inside her body.

"Our connection was broken," Spock said. "I do not know what the effects will be."

Suddenly Khan's hands were around his throat and his knee was crushing down on Spock's chest. He squeezed hard, feeling an insane pleasure as one of Spock's ribs broke and he made the Vulcan grunt in pain.

"Khan, we'll need him alive if she's stuck inside the meld," Matthew said and Khan roared in frustration. He wanted Spock dead as much as he'd ever wanted anything in his life. "He can be alive with half of his bones broken."

But the others wrestled him off Spock and pinned him to the floor. As well as his fear for Beth, and his anger at Spock, Khan felt betrayed that his crew had chosen Spock's life over his right to execute justice.

"Wait," Matthew suddenly said. "Khan, I think she's waking up."

No number of Augments could have stopped Khan going to her. He pushed Brann and Hatari and Chase off him, and clambered to the lounge to be by Beth's side.

"Get away," he told Matthew, grateful for his help but not wanting him to be near her when she awoke. Khan almost didn't care why she had gone with Spock and let him touch her mind. He just wanted her to wake up. He just wanted her to be alright. He just wanted his face to be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes.

* * *

**I think this is my first cliffhanger in Darker Wet lol and I hope you're curious to know what will happen when Beth opens her eyes! How do you like Matthew now? And how about the rest of the crew? We are still getting to know them, but hopefully they're starting to take shape in your minds :) And what about Khan's reaction to Beth's fertility monitor? I like having that ticking clock underneath everything, especially with all these new males around, not to mention potential threats on the horizon. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**It feels like ages since the last update. I think part of it is having longer (sometimes loooong) chapters. I am going to try switching back to shorter chapters with more frequent updates - let me know if that works better! Thanks to the following for their reviews of chapter 5:**

**TheJewellersHand, CLTex, Benedict'sZombieGirl, Mrs. Cumberbatch, FecklessFemale, WhitneyG, bigkiss, Sinister Bunny, Pint-sized She-Bear, April, Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit (like the new name!) and Guest**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Spock sat up slowly, holding his left side where Khan had broken a rib. The pain felt correct - something like justice. It was the least that he deserved after melding with Beth. She had come to him for help in a moment of confusion and desperation, and he had violated her trust as well as her mind to cover up his betrayal of the Augments. It was not just immoral; he had lost control during the meld because his own mind was defective. He could scarcely imagine what injury he had inflicted on Beth.

He watched Khan kneel by her side as she began to stir. His face was focused and intense, as if he could will her eyes to open. Spock knew from Beth's memories how much Khan loved and needed her, and how frightened he must be in this moment. He did not show it. He wore his anger like armor. Beth had always been able to see through it, and now so could Spock.

"I'm sorry, Khan," he said, attracting a sidelong glance full of venom and dread. It had been his goal to hurt Khan this much, but now all he felt was guilt.

"Spock," Lucy whispered behind him, touching his shoulder. "Get up, Spock. Leave while you can."

* * *

Khan heard Lucy telling Spock to leave, and wished the Vulcan would take her advice. He needed to focus on Beth, and as long as Spock was around he could not let his guard down.

"Get him out of my sight," he told the Augments. Hatari and Arma went to Spock's side, ready to lead him away. Khan looked up at Chase and Brann. They were both staring at Beth, almost as mesmerized as himself.

"All of you leave," he said, disliking their interest in his unconscious wife. Khan opened his mouth to make it an order, but then Beth sighed softly and that small sound was suddenly the only thing that mattered.

"I'm here," he said, turning back to her. He put his hand on the side of her face and felt Spock's touch still on her cheek. He wiped her skin with the backs of his fingers, trying to make her clean.

She sighed again, wrinkling her nose and squeezing her eyes tightly closed like she sometimes did in the morning when she wanted to sleep in. Khan didn't feel like he could wait any longer. He had to know she was alright. He was about to shake her awake when Matthew stepped forward.

"Don't rush her," he advised. "She might be confused, let her do it in her own time."

At least he was keeping his head, and Khan felt grateful he was there. Matthew had been just a child at the start of the Eugenic Wars – too young to fight, but clever and brave and with a talent for healing. He had found his calling as a battle medic, and by the age of eighteen was the most accomplished physician in Istanbul. Unlike most Augment doctors, Matthew had also treated human prisoners in the infirmaries and camps. There was no one Khan trusted more with Beth's wellbeing.

Khan took Beth's hand in his own, noticing how small and cold it felt. He raised it and kissed her palm and held it to his cheek. "Please wake up," he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open, blinking and looking around the room. Khan exhaled in a rush and realized he'd been holding his breath.

"Beth?" he said, wanting to shout her name and make her look at him. She blinked and turned her beautiful hazel-green eyes in his direction, and she stared for a long time. She was confused. He knew her so well and could see her thinking hard, trying to understand something in her mind before she put it into words. "You're safe," he told her, gently squeezing her hand.

Without warning she snatched it from him, leaving a cool palm print on his cheek.

"Beth…" he began but she was already pulling away. She was staring at him with no trace of love or warmth in her eyes. It hurt him so deeply he could barely speak. "It's me… Khan."

And then Matthew stepped forward, attracting her attention. She looked up at him, and her confusion intensified as her eyes flitted between Matthew and Khan. She tried to push Khan back, but he would not let her. If anything he wanted to be closer, not further away.

"It's alright," he said, and reached out to stroke her hair, trying to calm her, but she cringed away from him.

"Please, don't touch me." She looked around at the others, and Khan saw her eyes lock on one person in particular.

"No," he said, before she could say the name.

"Commander Spock," she said with relief, her voice lightening, her eyes clearing hopefully.

She tried to sit up but Khan held her down. She gasped and he knew he was frightening her but he couldn't let her go to Spock, not after what he'd just done to her, not after everything they'd been through.

"Will someone get him out of here?" Khan commanded through clenched teeth. He saw Lucy turn and run from the room and wondered vaguely where she was going. She was the only one that moved. Even Hatari and Arma just stared as Beth struggled in Khan's hands and eventually launched a fist at his face, hitting him harder than she ever had in their training sessions.

He was so shocked that he let her go and she scrambled over the back of the lounge, falling hard on the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked, standing to go to her, but she backed away from him and crouched in the corner, glaring. Khan could just stare, feeling completely helpless while everyone watched. "Beth, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you."

She just covered her head with her arms, trying to hide inside herself.

"What's wrong with her?" Khan asked, turning to Matthew. "She doesn't know me."

"I think she has regressed," Spock answered, and as much as Khan wanted to punch him just for breathing he gave him his full attention.

"Regressed to when? To what?"

"To a point where her memories are intact. Apparently to her time in Starfleet, when I was her commanding officer, before she met you."

"What happened to her memories?" Khan demanded.

"It is most likely temporary, while her mind tries to repair the damage caused by the meld."

"Damage?" Khan hissed. "You did this to her!"

"It was unintentional and I _am_ sorry," Spock said but Khan was desperate to exorcise his fear in some way. He strode towards Spock and this time no one tried to stop him.

But then he saw Deanna standing in the doorway of the office with Lucy coming up behind her. He froze as Deanna surveyed him evenly, her expression respectful but determined. She walked past him, her eyes scanning the room until she saw Beth hiding in the corner.

"Elizabeth?" she said as gently as she could, but it still startled her daughter. Beth jumped to her feet, staring in disbelief at her mother. Khan realized that if she had regressed a couple of years, then this was her first time seeing her mother since joining the Academy.

"Mom?" she asked incredulously, and after a long moment she rushed forward into her mother's arms, hiding her face from the room. She reminded Khan of Taren or Allister when they were too tired or upset to face the world and just wanted to bury their heads in his chest. Would she even remember their children, or had Spock taken them from her as well? "Mom, what's going on? Where am I?"

"Shh," Deanna soothed her daughter, rocking her as though she were a child herself.

Khan longed to hold Beth like that and make her feel safe, but he was glad Deanna was there. He turned to look back at the doorway and saw Lucy still standing in the hall. He nodded to her gratefully but she did not acknowledge him. She looked at Spock, her eyes full of concern for the least deserving person in the room.

"Let's go somewhere quiet," Deanna was saying to Beth. "We need to talk."

Beth nodded tearfully, but Khan stepped forward. He did not want anyone taking her while she was so fragile, not even her mother.

Deanna sensed this and held up her hand to him before putting it around Beth's shoulders. "I've already shot you once," she reminded him, and Khan saw that in her other hand she held a small pistol. She knew that she was in a room full of Augments and one gun could not stop them all, but her courage was enough to make Khan step aside.

Before they passed, Beth stopped to look up at him. His heart beat faster just to have that small amount of eye contact with her.

"I heard you talking to Commander Spock about what he did," she said. She looked at him for a long time, staring into his soul as only she could. "I think you care about me?"

"Yes," he said in a rush, relieved to have the chance to tell her. "I love you."

She nodded and he was desperate to know what she was feeling. Was he somewhere in her heart, even if he was gone from her mind?

"Then promise me you won't hurt him."

The request was more painful than any physical blow she could have dealt him. It was the last promise he wanted to keep, but he couldn't refuse her either, not when she was looking at him with such dependence. Khan nodded stiffly, and she gave him a small, curious smile that seized his heart, and then her mother led her out of the room.

* * *

**I thought about how to do this for ages! Did it work? I don't want to go back to Spock versus Khan in Beth's affections and that's not what this is. I hope you're curious about what Beth will remember, and how/when it will happen. In the meantime, how will Khan cope with his wife (and her mother) keeping him at a distance? How was Spock affected by the bungled mind meld and how will the others react to this change in status between Khan and Beth? Thanks for reading, hope you liked this chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Beth sat on the floor in her mother's living room, staring at the two toddlers playing on the fur rug in front of her. Learning she was a mother had shocked her more than anything the previous night, but it was also the easiest thing for her to accept. She loved these two children and they loved her. They were hers, it was an undeniable fact that she felt deep in her flesh. Her body knew them - knew how to hold them and soothe them, even if it had taken her a minute to learn their names.

She looked up as her mother came into the room.

"Is he still out there?" Beth asked.

Deanna nodded. "I told him he's making you nervous, but he won't leave until he talks to you."

Beth felt butterflies at the thought of talking to Khan - the strange, intense man that had stood vigil outside her mother's door all night. Deanna had told her as much as she could about him and tried to explain what Augments were and how they were not as uncontrolled as other men, but there also seemed to be a lot she didn't know.

Beth was curious to learn more about the man she'd married. How had she met him? What had made her fall in love with him? But she was also scared to meet someone for the first time who knew her so intimately and might be expecting more from her than she could give.

"I'd like to talk to Commander Spock first," Beth said. "I want to know what happened with him in the mind meld."

Deanna shook her head. "Khan doesn't think that's a good idea yet."

"Why is it up to him?" Beth asked, raising an eyebrow. It was not like her mother to yield to any man's will.

"And neither do I."

Beth didn't think it was her mother's decision either, but she knew she was outnumbered and didn't want to start a fight with Deanna after just finding her again. She picked up the PADD beside her and continued scanning through an album of pictures.

"Why aren't there any of Khan?" she asked. There were mostly images and recordings of the children: the children with Beth, the children with Deanna, the children with the large white dogs that followed them everywhere.

"He doesn't like to have his picture taken. He always deletes them or crops himself out."

"Why?"

Deanna sighed with frustration. "Maybe you should be asking him these questions."

Beth jumped as she felt a small, strong hand push down on her leg. She watched as her daughter, Taren, crawled into her lap.

"Where baba?" she asked Beth.

"Baba means father…" Deanna started to explain.

"In Turkish, I know," Beth said, stroking Taren's soft curls. It was overwhelming how happy that simple touch made her.

"You do?"

Beth opened her mouth and closed it again. Somehow she _did_ know that, just like she knew the word _sevda_ was Turkish for love and _sicak_ meant warm and _canim_ meant sweetheart. She shivered as she suddenly imagined a deep, irresistible voice murmuring the words into her ear.

"Khan is Turkish," she realized, feeling herself blush.

"I didn't tell you that," Deanna said. "Did you remember something?"

"Almost." Beth closed her eyes and felt something pressing against her consciousness as though trying to break through. She winced in pain as her mind seemed to fight it.

"Are you alright?" Deanna asked. "One of the Augments is a doctor. Maybe you should see him."

"Mama?" Now Allister was trying to climb into her lap, his face even more serious than usual, his eyes full of concern as he looked at her face.

"Maybe you're right," Beth said, hating the idea of her child worrying about her.

"I'll get him," Deanna said, and left the room.

Beth leaned forward and held her children, feeling herself relax as she breathed in their warmth and love. "It's okay, I'm still your mother."

It must have been several minutes, but it felt like an instant before she heard Deanna return. She looked up, but it was not her mother standing in the doorway.

"Khan."

She felt nervous and excited and a bit scared to be in the same room as him and she held her children between them like a buffer.

"No," he said, giving her an easy smile. "Matthew. Your mother is outside talking to Khan."

"Oh." Beth felt herself relax, but there was also a slight disappointment.

"I can get her if you'd be more comfortable," Matthew suggested, mistaking her frown for apprehension.

"No, I'm fine." Beth put her children down on the rug and sat on the couch. "I don't know if I need a doctor, I've just had a couple of headaches this morning."

He approached, sitting on the couch beside her. "After what you've been through, that would be expected, but I should take a look."

Matthew set a leather case on his lap and opened it. He pulled out a cranial scanner and held it to Beth's temple.

Beth stared forward but could feel his intensity as he observed her.

"What were you doing when you got the headaches?" he finally asked.

"I think it's when I remember something or almost remember something," she said.

"What did you remember?" he asked and something in his tone made Beth turn to him. He quickly looked down, taking her right hand. "What is this?"

He touched a gold band around her wrist. Beth had noticed it earlier. "I don't know," she said. "It's pretty."

"I think it's a medical alert bracelet," he said and looked at her with deep concern. "Are you sick?"

Beth tried to concentrate on how she was feeling. She noticed Allister watching her again and realized he'd understood Matthew's question. "I feel fine," she assured him.

"May I?" Matthew asked, taking the bracelet off Beth's wrist. He turned it over in his hands and started pressing the digits embedded in the metal band. "I've seen these before. I'm entering the number for my communicator," he explained. "If you feel sick, or need me for anything, just push this." He pointed to a bell-shaped indentation Beth had not noticed before. "And I'll come."

"Thank you," Beth said as he slipped it back on her wrist. He continued holding her hand, his fingers still wrapped around her wrist.

"I'd like to monitor your pulse as we talk," he said when she tried to pull her hand back. He pushed her sleeve up her arm. "Tell me what you remembered."

Beth nodded. "The last thing was just a few Turkish words; something Khan would have said or taught me."

"I'm from Turkey as well," Matthew said. "What were the words?"

But Beth didn't want to tell him. She was embarrassed that the first thing she'd remembered was so intimate.

"Something romantic?" he finally guessed, smiling. She nodded, looking away, wondering if he'd got that idea from the increase in her pulse.

"Do you know what _Khan_ means in Turkish?" Matthew asked her, sliding his fingers up her wrist.

Beth knew Augments were brilliant, but she didn't know how he could count her heartbeats while he asked her so many questions. "It's some kind of ruler, isn't it? Something Mongolian?"

"That was the meaning he ended up taking, but he chose the name when he sixteen, and he didn't have such grand ambitions then."

"Really," Beth said, fascinated to be learning more about her husband from someone who really knew him. "What meaning did it have for him when he chose it?"

"_Kan_ is Turkish for blood," Matthew said, and he paused to let that thought settle in Beth's mind. "He liked to say that spilling blood aroused him."

Beth looked at Matthew to see if he was teasing her. He was still smiling, but not joking. "You mean aroused him in a… sexual way?"

Matthew laughed. "He was a teenage boy. What other way could he mean?"

Deanna's voice startled Beth from the other side of the room. "Are you alright?"

For some reason Beth snatched her hand back from Matthew and pulled her sleeve down. "Yes," she said. "He says the headaches are normal."

"Good," Deanna said. "Khan is asking to see the little ones. Do you want me to take them out to him?"

"No," Beth said quickly. She didn't want to let them out of her sight just yet, even if they were just going to the front door with their grandmother. "He can come in." She turned to Matthew when her mother was gone. "Could you please stay?"

"Of course," he said, putting his scanner away and giving her a pleased smile. "I'll stay as long as you like."

* * *

**Another chapter right away in the spirit of shorter, more frequent updates :) Hope you liked this one!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Khan stood on the stairs in front of Deanna's guest house and watched Arma climb up the hill from the river. She'd obviously been swimming – her dark hair was damp and her clothes clung to her wet skin, emphasizing her lean athletic build.

Duman left Khan's side and ran to meet her. She affectionately raked her fingers through his thick fur and Khan smiled as he thought of the way Beth had a fit every time the dog went near her.

"You're welcome to shower at the house," he told Arma, guessing she preferred the river to the sonic shower on the Augments' ship. "We have another guest house as well, for you and Hatari," he offered. "And Lucy." He still felt grateful to her for fetching Deanna when Beth had been so upset.

"Thank you," Arma said as she came to stand beside Khan, "But we're leaving tonight. We need to go back to Wellhaven, with or without you."

"I'm sorry," Khan told her. "But I can't leave Beth like this."

Arma nodded. "How is she this morning?"

"I haven't seen her yet." He tried to keep the pain out of his voice, but Arma knew him too well.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Spock said it should be mostly temporary."

"Mostly." Khan laughed coldly. "What else did he say?"

"Nothing. He's not talking to anyone. Not even Lucy."

Khan nodded. "Then no one will miss him when you leave him behind."

"He's a member of my crew, Khan. He stays on my ship," Arma said.

"After what he did to Beth?"

"It's not clear what he did, or why," Arma reminded him. "If you want him to try to fix…"

"He's not touching her again." Khan growled. "You know better than that."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them and Khan wished he had not made the guest houses so sound-proof. He longed to know everything that Beth was doing and saying behind those duranium alloy walls.

"I'm sorry your trip to Golana was cut short," Arma finally said. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

He shook his head. "I can't suppress Beth's anomaly, if that's what you mean."

"What else?"

"The scientists at the facility shared some Federation research with me. They're studying our enhanced immunity."

"Augment immunity?"

"I think they're trying to create a kind of cure-all vaccine, maybe even to cure aging or death. It's advanced, but still theoretical." Khan turned to Arma and looked at her seriously. "Trust me, the Federation would love to get their hands on an Augment and they will not hesitate to do whatever it takes. Dyret took too many chances with your safety. His battles with the Klingons drew too much attention. You need to be more careful than he was."

Arma frowned. "Wellhaven is outside Federation space, Khan. You're more at risk than us. You _and_ your family."

Khan felt a draft behind him and turned to see Deanna standing by the open door. All thoughts of the Federation vanished from his mind.

"You can come inside," she said, and he climbed the stairs, leaving Arma at the bottom. He wondered how much of their conversation Deanna had overheard.

Beth was sitting on the couch in the cozy living room. The twins were on a white rug, playing by her bare feet. Matthew was on the couch beside her, leaning back comfortably in the cushions. Khan felt like he had walked in on an idyllic family scene, only he wasn't in it.

"Hello, Beth," he said, feeling overwhelmed by the sight of her. During the night he had worried about her so much she had become almost mythical in his thoughts.

But here she was, wearing a simple pair of denim shorts and a pink long-sleeved t-shirt. Her blonde hair hung over her left shoulder in a loose braid and she fiddled with it nervously as she looked up at him. "Hi, Khan."

Her smile was shy but disarming, and to hear her say his name was almost too much. He wanted to sit beside her and pull her onto his lap. He wanted to hold her close and never let her go.

"Mom said you were missing Taren and Allister," she said to him. Khan nodded, looking down at his children who were busy pulling tufts of fur out of the rug. "It was wrong to keep you from them. I'm sorry."

He nodded again, barely hearing the words. Khan knew he should go to his children and pick them up, but was almost afraid of dropping them in his current state. "I've been missing my wife as well," he said to her, wishing they were alone. "How do you feel?"

"Better." Beth looked sideways at Matthew. She shared a smile with him and Khan felt his fists clench involuntarily. "Nothing wrong with me except for losing two years of my life," she joked.

Khan's heart was beating so hard he was sure Matthew could hear it. "You don't remember anything yet?"

"Well…" She looked down at her lap and smiled. Khan knew she was blushing and to his annoyance Matthew smiled knowingly as well.

"What is it?" Khan asked sharply, and instantly regretted his tone. Beth looked up at him, her smile gone. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I'm just worried."

She nodded, but continued to watch him cautiously. "Mom's been telling me as much as she can," she said. "To see if it shakes anything loose. Could I please ask you a few questions?"

"Of course," he said. He would willingly spend the rest of his life trying to make Beth fall in love with him again.

She held up her left hand, looking at the golden crystals in her ring. "These stones are so unusual," she said. "I noticed last night that they sometimes glow. Where did they come from?"

Khan smiled. She was sure to remember this. "A cave on a planet called Centula. We were there together. It's where we fell in love."

"Centula," Beth repeated, furrowing her brow. "Is that where we got married?"

"No, we had to leave. It was destroyed by Starfleet."

"Starfleet?" she asked, surprised. Khan realized she still felt like a lieutenant and a science officer. "Why did they have to destroy it?"

He exchanged a look with Matthew, who had fled the planet as well. "They didn't."

"Then where did we get married?"

This time Khan did _not_ want to answer. "Golana." He said, but he also didn't want to lie to her. "At least that's where we had our identities changed to say that we were married."

Beth tilted her head to one side. "We changed our identities? You mean like taking your surname?"

He nodded. "We both took new names."

"But we never actually got married?" she asked.

"We made vows later."

"But it wasn't legal?" Beth guessed. "Was it legal when we changed our names?"

Khan stared at her, not knowing how to answer.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just trying to understand. You call me your wife, but if we never actually got married…"

"You _are_ my wife," Khan insisted, trying not to get angry. He didn't want to have this conversation in front of Matthew, or any man. He didn't want them to think his claim on Beth was less than it was. "In every way possible you are my wife. I love you. We have created life together, and a family, and a home. You are the only woman who could have given me those things, and I am the only…"

Khan wanted to tell Beth that he was her only option as well, and maybe once that had been true, but then his eyes fell on Matthew beside her on the couch. She was literally sitting next to a copy of himself – a genetically superior copy, no less, who had been designed in a lab for the specific purpose of making Khan redundant.

Besides Matthew, there were two other male Augments down by the river, and another forty of them floating around in orbit off Wellhaven. Any one of them could be her mate if she so chose, and all of them would jump at the chance to make Beth theirs.

A frantic sickness rose in Khan's stomach. Without her memories, without the bond of marriage, he could feel her slipping away from him. He had to prove to her that she was his, and would only ever be his.

Beth was staring at him thoughtfully, perhaps having similar doubts, but suddenly a wide grin spread over her face as she looked down on the ground. Khan looked down as well and saw Allister balancing on his shaky feet, his arms stretched up for Khan to hold him.

Feeling overwhelmed by gratitude, Khan bent down and picked up his son. He closed his eyes and hid his face behind Allister as he tried to gather himself.

"He looks so much like you," Beth said, and when Khan opened his eyes Beth was holding Taren and walking towards him. He fought the urge to back away from her, like she was a trick he'd already fallen for once.

Her smile was warm and almost loving. "We should capture this moment," she told him. "Can Matthew take a picture of us?"

Khan looked over at Matthew, who seemed just as surprised as him.

"I was trying to find a picture of you," Beth explained. "Why do you cut yourself out of them?"

He hesitated. How could he explain to a woman he barely knew that he was a wanted criminal, and if their house was ever searched there could be no sign of him or it would put her in danger?

"The pictures are for me," he said. "I don't need pictures of myself."

It was clear she saw right through him, but did not say. "Could we have just one for me?" she asked. "One with all four of us?" She pointed to the PADD on the couch before Khan could object. "Matthew, could you please?"

Matthew seemed as unhappy to be taking the picture as Khan was being in it. "Ready?" he grumbled.

"Wait," Beth suddenly said, and she stood close enough to Khan that he could feel her warmth and smell her skin. He turned his head to look down at her as she smiled for the picture. He wanted to kiss her right then, and he heard the noise the PADD made as it saved the image.

"Let me see," Beth said excitedly, setting Taren down on the rug and taking the PADD from Matthew.

"I can do better," he started to say, but Beth shook her head.

"No, it's good," she breathed, biting her bottom lip, and the tone of her voice aroused more in Khan than his curiosity.

She showed him the picture. She looked beautiful, of course, and the twins were very cute, but it was the expression on Khan's own face that caught his attention. He was looking down at Beth with an expression of such naked desire and ownership that he was sure it must frighten her.

But as he watched her face he saw only fascination as she stared at the picture. She glanced up at him and he tried not to look at her with as much intensity as he was feeling. She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly dropped the PADD on the rug and put her hands on the sides of her head, cringing in pain.

"Beth!" Khan reached out to her, but Matthew got there first, a scanner appearing out of thin air and he ran it over her head.

"Is she alright?" Khan asked, holding Allister to his chest as the little boy began to cry.

"What happened?" Deanna asked, appearing at the door from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Beth insisted, rubbing her temples and looking annoyed as Matthew tried to scan her again. "I'm fine. Can you please just give me some space?" She walked towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Deanna asked.

"I need some fresh air," Beth said. "I'm going for a walk."

"Not on your own, you're not," Deanna insisted.

Beth paused. "I'm not going on my own," she said to her mother, and then she turned to look back at Khan. "Am I?"

* * *

She walked aimlessly through the forest, not caring that her bare feet were being stuck by rocks and branches with almost every step. She was looking for something but she didn't know what.

She could hear him walking behind her, his footsteps slow and precise. She could feel his concern, and hear his hesitation every time she stumbled, but he did not try to stop her or guide her, though he surely guessed what she was trying to find.

She came to a shallow stream and knew to wait for Khan to pick her up and carry her across. He said nothing and simply set her down on the other side, letting her continue towards a stand of trees that concealed a large limestone boulder.

She hesitated, looking up at his face, so full of anticipation that she knew she was close. She walked around the boulder and saw the entrance to a small, dark cave. She stepped inside, reaching for a lamp that she somehow knew was hanging just inside the antechamber.

"Something happened here," she said, as much to herself as to Khan, and she continued through the cave to another room off the main cavern. She heard the sound of running water and looked around. "I thought there would be a waterfall," she said.

"There was," he told her, his deep voice echoing around her. "And you were beautiful in it."

He was behind her, standing so close he made her nervous, but Beth turned to face him. She realized it had not been the cave she had been looking for, it had been him.

He was looking at her with the same hunger she'd seen in the photograph. She knew this hunger the way she had known her own children. It was as much a part of her as any breath she'd ever taken.

"I love you, Beth," Khan said to her, and she believed him. It frightened her as much as it excited her, but she didn't know why. Then he put his hands on her arms and she felt how strong he was, how much he had to hold himself back. She thrilled at the thought of him letting himself go, but at the same time it made her shy away from him.

She could see him wanting to pursue her, his eyes tracked her closely in the dim lamp light. She felt so vulnerable, and yet so safe with him. Maybe that was love, she wondered, as he gave into his desire and slowly approached her, backing her against the wall and leaning over her.

His mouth was gentle on her skin, his tongue wet as he tasted her trembling lips. His kiss was dark and seductive and it took a moment for Beth to open her mouth to it. She could feel how hard he grew as he waited, his body pressed against her.

She would not give herself to him, and she knew he would not force her, but she wanted this kiss. She needed to know this man better, and this was the way she knew him best.

* * *

**Another short(ish) chapter for you - but yikes better get to bed! Hope you liked this - Poor Khan is getting desperate to assert his claim on Beth and I like that she felt a strong connection to his desire for her even if she doesn't know the man behind it. Next time you can look forward to that date in St. Petersburg that was mentioned in Chapter One! But brace yourself for trouble around the corner - some big ass chickens are going to come home to roost (wow I feel a bit manic - need to get some sleep I hope I don't wake up in the morning and realize I posted a bunch of gibberish lol) Thanks for reading, and thanks to TheJewellersHand, Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit, CLTex, FecklessFemale, April, Sinister Bunny and the ever-faithful Guest for sneaking your reviews in between ****these ****chapters tonight!**

**xo**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Beth watched herself step out of a small room and into the light. She was wearing a white robe and her hair was damp and curly.

"Beth!" she called to herself. "Beth, stop!"

She watched Khan emerge from the shadows and circle her, and then back her against some kind of bed.

"No!" she kept shouting, a frightened anger flowing through her as she watched. She couldn't move her arms and legs, then she saw herself kiss Khan and her limbs quit their struggling. Everything changed in that moment and she could only watch helplessly as bodies and tongues and souls intertwined.

Suddenly she was naked in front of him... in front of herself... it didn't make sense and her head throbbed painfully. Beth also felt a guilty yearning to touch her own breasts and taste her own skin... and then Khan did just that and as much as she hated him for it, she also experienced a swelling, stretching, aggressive arousal... Beth looked down and saw the outline of an erection in her pants.

She shouted in confusion, but nothing came out of her mouth except a muffled moan. She was back in her own mind and Khan was leaning against her, his mouth pressed over hers, one hand groping her breast as the other held her flat to the cave wall.

Her left leg was wrapped around him as he moved his hips slowly back and forth, side to side, grinding himself against her. He was so hard and so powerful and his desperate groans felt just as suffocating as his weight on top of her.

She turned her head, gasping for air. She knew she could never fight him off and she realized part of her didn't want to - there was a dark slipperiness inside her that just wanted to let go.

* * *

She felt the same to him... the warmth and weight of her body... the heady, magnetic quality of her skin… but underneath he could sense a kind of nervousness he hadn't felt in her since their first time together. She trembled at every new kiss and touch and Khan's mind raced ahead to all of Beth's first times that he could reclaim: undressing her slowly… taking a nipple in his mouth… watching her face as he gently but firmly parted her thighs…

"Khan," she whispered and he shuddered with anticipation. "Khan, stop."

He told himself he'd misheard her. Her body was wet and undulating, burning with desire, screaming for him to possess it. He kissed her lips again so she couldn't talk. He circled his arms around her, holding her close, holding her still.

But she turned her head again. "Please," she gasped, "I can't breathe."

The inertia of his desire carried him forwards long after he heard her words. Slowly he leaned back a few inches, giving her air but not letting her go. He left his hips against hers, feeling the heat of her sex through their clothes. He looked down at her face. Her features were achingly soft in the lamp light. He wrapped his hands around her wrists like an embrace. "You love me," he told her. He could feel it radiating out of every pore - how could she not believe it?

He leaned in again but she shook her head and looked away. "I'm sorry," she said. She pulled at her arms but he did not release her right away. She looked up at him with both caution and sympathy. "Please, I have to go."

"No," he said, but he was already backing away from her.

She looked as confused as he felt. "I'm sorry, Khan, it's too much." And she grabbed the lamp off the ground and ran from the cave, leaving him alone in darkness.

* * *

She slipped on the rocks in the creek, cutting her shin but not caring. She ran into the forest, not paying attention to where she was going, just knowing she needed to put distance between herself and Khan. He was so intense, it was almost oppressive, but the more time she spent with him, the more normal it started to seem.

"Whoa, down there, are you alright?"

Beth jumped at the voice coming from high above her. She looked up, covering her eyes against the sun. It was one of the Augment men, the tall blond one, balancing on a thick wire suspended between two pine trees. Somehow his name came to her. "Brann?"

"That's right," he called down, smiling, and he suddenly dropped from the wire, falling about fifteen yards to land on his feet. "What are you running from?"

"Nothing." She looked up at the wire again. "What were you doing up there? What is that?"

"We found Khan's obstacle course. It runs up to the top of the mountain."

"What's it for?"

"It would be part of his regimen," Brann explained. "Most Augment facilities had one because we need extreme physical challenges to stay in shape."

"Khan built a grand one," another voice called from above. "Brann already fell off it twice!"

"Chase!" Beth called, recalling another name without even trying. "How many times did you fall off?"

He dropped to the ground, landing hard and stumbling a few steps. "Er, four," he admitted, turning pink beneath his beard.

"It probably seems frivolous to you, after what happened to Dyret," Brann said.

Beth remembered Dyret as well. "What happened to him?"

Brann's smile faded. "Sorry, I thought Khan would have told you after your... we lost Dyret. We came here hoping Khan would help us as we choose a new leader."

"But he refused?" Beth asked, surprised. She knew instinctively that it was not like Khan to let his crew down if he could help it.

"He told Arma he won't leave when you're like this."

"Oh," Beth said, looking down.

"No one blames you," he said quickly, but that did not stop her blaming herself.

"You're hurt," Chase said, pointing to the cut on her shin. The blood had mixed with her sweat and trickled down to her ankle.

"It looks worse than it is." She laughed. "I can't even walk on the ground, let alone up in the trees."

"Let me see," Brann said, kneeling down on one knee in front of her. He put his hand on her calf and raised her leg so her bare foot balanced on his knee. He tried to focus on her injury, but his eyes drifted slowly up her bare legs.

"Brann!" someone shouted coming through the underbrush. For a moment Beth thought it was Khan and she guiltily jerked her foot off Brann's knee. But it was Matthew that appeared in the clearing, his eyes flashing angrily at the two Augments. "What's going on?"

He looked down at the cut on her leg. "I smelled your blood and thought..." He looked around. "Where is Khan?"

Beth didn't want to tell him about the cave. She knew it was something special, something private between her and her husband. She smiled, realizing that it _did_ feel right to think of Khan that way. "He's walking back on his own."

"He wouldn't want you out here," Matthew said, and Beth knew the look he gave Brann and Chase was some kind of warning. "I'll take you back to the house and look at your cut."

"It's fine..." she started to say but he took her hand and began pulling her down the hill. "Matthew, I'm fine," she said, but then she stood on a particularly nasty rock and began to limp beside him.

"Come here," he said, "Get on." He crouched down so she could piggyback.

Beth began to relax as he carried her. The smooth, consistent rhythm of his gait was almost hypnotic. "Matthew," she mused.

"Mm?"

"Could you really smell my blood?"

He laughed. "Yes, it was faint but I knew it was you immediately."

Beth held out her leg and looked down at it. There wasn't that much blood. "What else can you smell?" she asked. "Can you smell animals in the forest? And flowers and other things that are far away?"

"Sure," he said, "But I'm not tuned into those things like I am to you and my other friends." He hesitated, his pace slowing. "I can smell Khan on your skin."

"Oh," Beth said, not knowing why she felt the urge to apologize.

"His scent is very strong on you, that's why I thought he was with you at first. I can tell you were together, I can smell your arousal and I'm sure the others could as well."

Beth was humiliated that they would all know that about her. "That's enough," she said, trying to push herself of Matthew's back.

"It's alright," he said, not putting her down, keeping his tone light. "You're supposedly married to him, and I can tell you didn't actually copulate. That's good. You shouldn't."

She couldn't tell if he was being impertinent. "Is that your medical opinion?"

"Certainly. In your condition you should avoid any stressful, overly-emotional experiences for a while."

But Beth wasn't so sure. When she had kissed Khan, or earlier when she'd just had intimate thoughts about him, she had felt her missing memories trying to surface. They might be gone from her mind but somehow there was still a physical - maybe sexual - connection. Whether or not it was specific to Khan she didn't know, but Beth found herself wondering what she might remember if she was only willing to let Khan remind her.

* * *

Khan stood at the back door of the house and watched Matthew carry Beth down the hill. He could smell her blood and see it dried on her shin, and he could smell her lingering arousal and her sweat mixing with Matthew's sweat as she pressed herself against his back and let him put his hands all over her legs.

It was enough to make Khan want to flatten Matthew to the ground and throw Beth over his shoulder, but he just stood there, determined not to show any anger or contempt. He knew he was already too intense for her, she would not take kindly to him pummeling her new best friend, no matter how justified. He could hear them laughing together and he could only guess they were laughing about him because what else did they have in common?

Finally Matthew's eyes locked on Khan and perhaps he could sense his disapproval because his smile faded and his back straightened and his arms loosened around Beth's bare legs.

But Khan managed a pleasant smile. "I was getting worried about you," he said to Beth when they were close enough.

She was looking at him nervously, maybe guiltily, but he did not react. "Did you hurt yourself?" he asked casually, as if it barely concerned him.

"It's just a scratch," she said, and she tapped Matthew's shoulder to be let down.

He complied, perhaps too quickly, and she stumbled as she set her feet down on the ground.

"Oh, dear," Khan sympathized, and he offered Beth a courteous hand to help her up the back steps. She took it, looking at him curiously, perhaps with disappointment. Was this some kind of test? Had she been expecting, maybe even hoping, for a more jealous reaction? He certainly wasn't going to give it to her. He could be just as fucking carefree as Matthew, if that's what she liked now.

Speaking of which, "Matthew, Arma was looking for you earlier. She's down at your ship."

"I was going to..."

"I'll take care of Beth," Khan assured him and he knew that Matthew could read between the lines, even if Beth thought he was being perfectly pleasant.

Matthew nodded curtly, looking at Beth with concern and something else, something wistful, before disappearing around the side of the house towards the river.

"Can you walk?" Khan asked, but before she could answer he went into the house ahead of her.

"Yes," she said, following him and putting on a brave show of barely limping. "But I'm making a mess," she said, looking at the trail of dirt and blood she was tracking into the kitchen.

Khan went to her and picked her up and all of his pretense suddenly evaporated. He stared for a long time, unable to be aloof with her in his arms. When he held her so closely she consumed every cell in his body and thought in his head and it was painful to pretend otherwise.

Slowly, he set her down on a kitchen stool and placed her feet on another. Without a word he took a hand towel from the cupboard, wet it and carefully cleaned her injuries. He could feel her eyes following him as he gently wiped away the blood and dirt and rinsed the towel in the sink.

"I think you should go with your crew to Wellhaven," she said.

"Who told you about Wellhaven?" Khan asked, not turning around.

"Brann said they need your help but you weren't going back with them because of me."

"He shouldn't have said that. He knows that you and Allister and Taren need me a lot more than seventy full-grown Augments in a cloaked starship."

"If you're worried about me, I already asked Matthew if he can stay to make sure I don't... I don't know, have an aneurism or something."

The wet towel ripped in Khan's hands - was this another test? He kept his voice even. "What did Matthew say to that?"

"He said he'll stay if you and Arma allow it."

Khan never would, but he didn't want Arma and the others using Beth to try and change his mind about going to Wellhaven. "I'll think about it," he said.

"And before they go I want to talk to Commander Spock," Beth added. "About the mind meld. I want to know what happened and ask him about some of the things I've been remembering."

"Such as?" Khan asked. Beth had forgotten many things and there were many things he didn't want her to remember. The last thing he wanted was Spock putting even more thoughts into her head.

"It's hard to explain, I don't really understand it, but I think he'll know what it means."

"Tomorrow," Khan told her. "You can talk to Spock tomorrow." By which time he knew Spock and all the Augments would be gone. He had to keep Beth away from them until then.

"Beth, before my crew arrived, you and I were going to have dinner together tonight, at one of my favorite restaurants. I think we should still go, this afternoon. I think the change of scene will relax us and you can get to know me again in a less intimidating way."

Beth looked intrigued by the idea. "Like a date?"

He smiled, nodding, and realized he'd never been on a date with Beth before, unless he counted the time when she was pregnant and craving deep-fried bacon-wrapped pickles that were only available from a particularly greasy diner in McGrath... which he did not.

"A good meal in a neutral environment," he told her. "I'll answer whatever questions you have."

"And then tomorrow I can talk to Spock and you'll talk to Arma?"

"Yes," Khan promised, disliking the lie but telling himself that it was necessary.

All he wanted was to have his wife back, and he knew that wouldn't be possible with Arma and Matthew and Spock and the others constantly trying to drive wedges between them. Once he had her to himself, Beth would understand and forgive him, and even if she never got all her memories back she would know that she came first and how much he loved her. He would make sure she had no choice but to love him back.

* * *

**I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to 2014! Thanks for your patience with this chapter - hope you enjoyed it as Beth gets more acclimated to Khan and Khan gets more frustrated and serious (maybe a little too serious?) about holding onto her. This part was longer than I expected so I split it from the actual date - stay tuned for that in the next chapter - thanks for reading, faving and following, and thanks to these Christmas Elves for reviewing since last time: WhitneyG, CLTex, Mrs. Cumberbatch, TheJewellersHand, Sinister Bunny, Just Pam, DoctorGiggelstheMouse, bigkiss, Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit and Destiny Rain Evans.**

**xo**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It felt strange putting on an evening gown, especially in the middle of the day, and Beth had to remind herself it was already late at night in Russia.

And she'd never put on makeup and done her hair just to eat dinner before, but when they arrived in St. Petersburg and Khan landed his shuttle in a beautiful garden on Kamenny Island, Beth saw how elegant the other women looked and she was grateful Khan had warned her to dress up.

"Can you even walk in those shoes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her strappy gold heels as he helped her down from the shuttle.

She laughed, her ankles wobbling a little, and put a hand on his shoulder for support. "I can walk, but I won't be running anywhere soon."

"Good," he said, kissing her hand and tucking it into his arm. "I don't want you running away from me again."

Beth looked sideways at him and decided he was only half joking. She watched him as they started to walk along the side of a canal that was canopied by ancient oak trees and lit by old-style gas lamps. He was very handsome in a navy suit and dark gray overcoat with a high collar turned up against the wind. His hair blew down over his forehead and covered one of his eyes and Beth decided that it suited him.

She pulled the neck of her long black cape tight to her throat. Khan noticed. "Are you warm enough?" he asked, wrapping an an arm around her and drawing her close.

"Yes," she said, smiling up at him and as she realized how well they fit together when he held her like that. She couldn't help but wonder how well they fit together in other ways.

"You look beautiful," he told her when he saw her staring. They turned towards a large Gothic mansion on the bank of the canal. "This is the Hotel Dacha," he said, slowing down so she could look at it properly. "_Dacha_ is a kind of Russian country house. This is one that I actually visited during my time, as part of a delegation to meet with the deposed Russian President. It has been converted since then and of course the tower is new." He pointed to a sleek, narrow skyscraper rising up behind the original building. "But from here it looks almost exactly as I remember it."

"You met with the Russian President?" Beth asked, impressed. "What was he like?"

"He tried to poison me," Khan said wryly, guiding her up the steps. "And it was all downhill from there."

Beth was surprised by the anger she felt that someone had tried to hurt Khan, even so long ago. She was still thinking about it when he removed his coat and handed it to her. "Could you please check this and wait for me? I should say hello to the manager."

She nodded and found the coat check, and gave his coat and her cloak to the young woman behind the counter.

"That's some dress!" the woman marveled in a heavy Russian accent when she saw what Beth was wearing underneath. "What is it made of?"

Beth looked down at the shimmering gown she'd found in her closet. It was low cut and figure-hugging and looked almost like molten gold poured over her body. She self-consciously adjusted one of the spaghetti straps. "I'm not sure, it was a gift," she said. At least she couldn't imagine buying it for herself. "Where can I wait for someone?" she asked.

"Most people meet in the lounge," the woman told her, pointing over Beth's shoulder.

* * *

Khan scanned the lobby, looking for Beth. He expected to see her standing off to the side, maybe in the shadowy alcove, but when he didn't see her he went to check the crowded lounge.

The first thing he noticed was a statuesque blonde in a ravishing gold dress talking to a man at the bar. Khan let his eyes linger for a moment to appreciate the way the filmy material clung to her buttocks and thighs, and then the woman turned and his eyes traveled up to her full breasts, accentuated by her low-cut top and a gold locket nestled in creamy cleavage. He instantly recognized the cleavage and then the locket and realized he was staring at his own wife.

He had never seen Beth look so glamorous, and she had never worn anything so provocative in public before. She sometimes liked to wear erotic lingerie to bed, and it always aroused Khan to have her be so nearly-naked. This dress... the way it left just enough to the imagination... the way it seemed to move like liquid over her skin, constantly caressing her breasts and hips... it brought out the same arousal in him, and an overwhelming jealousy that every other man in the bar was able to look at her.

"Starting without me?" he asked Beth as he moved in behind her, placing his hand on the back of her neck. She turned to look up at him, but he glowered at the man she was talking to, who evaluated Khan with equal enmity. "Won't you introduce us?"

She blushed. "Khan, Uri was just asking me if I wanted a drink. It is Uri, isn't it?" she said unsurely, and the man smiled, tilting his head.

"Da, solnyshka moyo." (_Yes, my sunshine_.)

Her blush deepened, perhaps guessing his term of endearment. "Uri, this is Khan, my... husband."

Khan didn't like her hesitation, or the way it made Uri laugh. "Are you quite sure?" Uri asked.

"If you want a drink, I'll get it for you," Khan told her. He gave Uri a thin smile. "And one for your friend as well. Perhaps a Kastratsiya?" (_Castration_)

Uri's smirk faltered and Khan moved to step in front of him. "Enough of this, Beth, come with me."

He led her into the dining room and took her to his usual table in a private corner. A waiter rushed to help her with her chair but Khan stared him down. "Do you enjoy making me jealous?" he asked her as she sat, thinking more of her growing bond with Matthew than the waiter or the man in the bar.

"I don't know," she replied. "Do I?"

"You used to know better."

Beth narrowed her eyes at him and Khan realized he was being unfair. "The food is Brazilian," he said to change the subject. "Shall I order for us?"

She nodded and Khan ordered in fluent Portuguese without even glancing at the menu.

"And a bottle of vodka," Beth added when he was done. The waiter smiled and nodded. "For the table," she said to Khan.

"You don't drink," he told her.

"I'd like to try it," she said. "I never used to drink because I always had to be on alert and stay in control, but with you I think I can relax a bit?"

Khan nodded, taking it as a compliment, and progress. "You can."

When the vodka arrived in an ice bucket he poured some into a small chilled glass and watched her taste it, pull a face and then finish the whole thing. He poured another but she let it sit on the table.

"What else should I know about you?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Do you come here often?"

"Several times before," Khan said.

"But you've never brought me?"

"No, I'm usually meeting someone."

"Meeting who?" Beth asked.

"Do you remember Arma?"

"Yes, of course," Beth said, smiling. Khan searched her eyes for any trace of suspicion. Earlier he had been dreading her jealousy but now he wished for it.

"I keep a room here for her, and whenever she comes to Earth we'll meet for dinner. We're just friends," Khan added, trying to sow a seed of doubt.

But Beth just nodded and sipped her drink. "I know," she said. "I like Arma. She saved my life."

"And you hers. Did someone tell you that, or do you remember it?"

"I think I remember it. We were on Centula." Beth closed her eyes for a second and then looked at Khan. "It's mainly you I'm having trouble remembering."

Khan cursed under his breath. It was lucky Spock was leaving Earth in a few hours; if he ever saw that half breed again... he looked up and realized Beth was checking her communicator.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, wondering if her mother was trying to reach her about the twins.

"No," she said quickly, stuffing it back into her purse. "Tell me something else," she said. "What's something I don't like about you? No, that's unfair, first tell me something I _do_ like about you."

Khan wasn't sure how to answer that question. "There are a lot of things you like about me. And _love_ about me," he said pointedly. "That I'm so protective of you and the twins, and so focused on your happiness and safety. I would do anything for you, Beth, you just have to ask."

She nodded, taking a deep drink as she absorbed his words. "What about something I don't..."

But Khan wasn't done. "You like that I pay attention, and that I know you so well. I know what you want and I know how to give it to you." He hesitated, watching as she continued to sip her drink, her cheeks turning red. Maybe it was just the alcohol, but it was the same kind of flush she got when she was aroused. Khan put a hand on the back of her chair and pulled it closer, lowering his voice. "You love how I pleasure you, Beth, and I love to do it. I love the way you feel, the way you taste, the way you sound when you're excited."

He loved the way her eyes widened as she looked up at him. He half expected her to tell him to stop, but she surprised him. "What do I like?" she asked instead. "How do I like to be touched?"

Khan smiled, feeling himself get hard as he thought of all the things that turned Beth on. "You like to kiss," he said and he leaned over to kiss her briefly on the mouth. "Almost nothing gets you wetter than a slow, deep kiss, and nothing makes you cum faster than me sucking on your nipples while I stroke you."

She gasped and Khan kissed her again, taking advantage of her open mouth. He was glad it was dark in the restaurant, but as she gave a soft moan and began to return his kiss, he didn't care if anyone saw. "Do you want to know what your favorite thing is?" he finally asked, brushing his lips along her cheekbone as he talked. "It's my favorite as well."

"What?" she whispered, placing her right hand on his thigh.

Khan looked down at her hand and noticed her bracelet - the fertility monitor - and wondered if she even knew what it was anymore. He touched it, running his fingers along its cool surface. "You love me to fuck you, Beth. You love me to _really_ fuck you. You tell me to start off slow... and I do... nice and slow and deep... pulling all the way out each time... you like me to hold you and kiss you, you like to reach your hand down to feel me enter you."

She nodded, breathing hard, licking her lips. Khan smiled, so happy she was at least letting him say the words. "After a while you ask me to go a little faster, you ask me to be a little rougher... but I don't, Beth, do you know why I don't?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes. Khan leaned forwards so he could say the words close to her ear. "Because I like to make you wait. I like to hear you beg for my..."

There was a sudden cough and Beth jumped away from him, removing her hand. Khan glared up at the offender, a young waiter who obviously didn't know better. "Excuse me, senhor, may I serve you?"

One of the more experienced waiters would not have interrupted them and in another lifetime Khan would have crippled a man for less, but he would not show his irritation in front of Beth. He nodded and as the boy served the first course of Vatapá, Khan watched Beth pour herself a third drink.

The last thing he wanted was for her to get drunk. "Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked to distract her.

She speared a fat shrimp with her fork and nibbled on it thoughtfully. "You said you keep a room here for Arma?"

Khan nodded. "Why?"

"Do you think she'd mind if you... showed me?"

He stared, wondering just what she was suggesting. "Are you sure?"

Beth put her fork down and took his right hand. Looking into his face, she pulled up the skirt of her dress and guided his hand between her knees. He needed no more encouragement and slid it higher, feeling the smooth, soft skin of her inner thighs and heat radiating from her sex. And then his fingers brushed against it and he realized she was not wearing any underwear. His jaw clenched as Beth opened her legs a little wider and leaned back in her chair.

Khan's middle finger found her wetness and her swollen clitoris. She looked so tense and serious as he traced slow circles around it. "Relax," he told her, letting his voice turn to silk against her skin, "I am going to make you feel so good."

* * *

Beth could barely walk in her high heels as Khan led her to the elevator. It was partly the alcohol spreading its warmth through her muscles, but it was also Khan making a different kind of warmth spread from her lower stomach all the way to her weakening knees. When the elevator started to rise, Beth's knees gave out and he caught her.

"Mmm." She smiled up at him as he held her close, his strong hands gripping her waist through her dress. He looked down at her, his eyes dropping from her face to her breasts, and he suddenly leaned down to kiss them. She laughed as he gently bit her tender flesh and then leaned her back against the glass wall. Without warning he tore the front of her dress open.

"Khan!" she gasped, dropping her purse, shocked by the violence of his action and also the feeling of her breasts being so suddenly exposed in front of him.

"I'm sorry for the dress," he murmured as he cupped and squeezed them with both hands. "But it's even more beautiful now." Glancing at her face for for just a moment, he lowered his mouth to her left nipple.

Beth groaned loudly, her back arching off the wall. "Oh, Khan, that feels so good." And so familiar. There was a sudden pain behind her eyes and Beth felt another memory crowding into the elevator with them. "Not now," she hissed, pushing it away.

Khan looked up at her, his desire fighting with concern. "You want me to stop?"

"No," she panted, looping her fingers through his hair. "Please keep going."

He smiled and obliged, taking her other nipple in his mouth. She didn't know how anything could feel so incredible. He started to kneel in front of her, kissing down her ribs, tearing the dress as he went, exposing her navel, and then her lower abdomen and finally ripping it all the way to the floor so she was completely naked in front of him.

Beth trembled as he stared at her pussy, his hands gripping her hips, holding her against the wall so she couldn't turn away if she wanted to. But she _didn't_ want to. A strange and intense excitement pooled in her stomach as she watched Khan's lip curl, baring his teeth in a kind of snarl.

"You look like you've never seen it before," she joked nervously, her voice shaking. He looked up at her face, his eyes so full of lust he seemed barely human. "Now what?" she whispered.

"Now I eat you," he said, and Beth could believe he meant it literally.

He leaned forward, a deep rumbling growl coming from the back of his throat as he put his mouth over her sex, his tongue sliding between her slippery outer lips. It knew exactly where to go. "Oh, god," Beth breathed, feeling her muscles go limp as he sucked her aching clitoris between his teeth.

She barely noticed when the elevator doors slid open. Her head rolled to the side. "Khan," she said weakly, looking through the open doors. "Khan, stop."

He pulled back a fraction of an inch. "You love it when I do this," he said, not even opening his eyes before resuming.

"No, we're here," Beth said, reluctantly pulling Khan back by his hair. "I think this is the room."

* * *

Khan let her push him away and step over him, wobbling on her ridiculous shoes like a newborn deer. He imagined a dozen ways to trip her or knock her over. He wanted nothing more than to pin her to the ground and push his straining cock inside her. Instead, he stood and retrieved her purse and followed her into the suite. In keeping with the original building, the decor was opulent, with marble floors and golden chandeliers and mirrors lining every wall. Khan followed Beth, stalking her as she wandered around the room, touching the gilded surfaces.

"Did you ever come up here with Arma?" she asked, looking at him sideways.

Finally, a hint of jealousy. Khan smiled, ignoring her question. "Take off your dress," he ordered. "I want to see you."

She looked back over her shoulder and he could see her considering her options. He hoped that by this point, refusing him was not one of them.

"Will you take off something as well?" she asked.

He smiled and put her purse down on a table. He slid his jacket down his arms and draped it over the back of a chair. "I was warm anyway."

Beth laughed nervously and her fingers tugged at the straps of her dress and it suddenly fell to the floor. She was naked, and the curve of her back rounding out at her buttocks and hips was unbelievably beautiful to Khan. She was more tanned than he remembered - she must have spent time sunbathing nude on the riverbank while he was gone.

Keeping a careful eye on him, she resumed her tour of the suite, her heels clicking slowly on the marble floors as she walked. She found the door to the bedroom and Khan was behind her before the door had finished sliding open. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand on her breast, the other between her legs. She stumbled forward and he pressed her against a wall, letting his erection settle between her buttocks.

"I want to make love to you," he said, squeezing her softness and warmth in his hands. "I want to be with you, Beth. Will you let me be with you?"

Her breaths were fast and shallow and nervous. Khan knew all she needed was an orgasm to help her relax. He turned her around but kept his hand between her legs, stroking her wetness and looking into her eyes, the hazel-green eyes that he loved so much. "Will you let me take care of you?"

She took a deep breath and nodded and Khan smiled with satisfaction and relief. Putting a hand on the back of her head, he pulled her into a kiss.

As the minutes swam around them, he felt her nerves fall away like the dress, until her soul was as naked before him as her body. She moaned into his mouth, sucking on his bottom lip, raising her hands to the sides of his head and circling her thumbs around the shells of his ears.

That motion of her thumbs unsettled Khan for some reason and he felt himself hesitate, coming out of the trance she'd put him in. Her thumbs felt good, stimulating little-used nerve endings, but there was also something... off... about it. It was familiar, and not in a pleasant way.

He pulled back, looking at Beth. "You never did that before."

Her eyes didn't want to open, her head craned forward, still seeking his lips.

"Beth, look at me," he said, not knowing why he felt so anxious.

She did, blinking slowly, giving him a sexy smile. "Hmm?"

"What you were doing just now, why did you do that?"

"I was just kissing you," she said, peering at him with some confusion. "I love kissing you."

"No, you were doing this with your hands," and he showed her, holding her head gently, circling his thumbs around her ears.

"It feels nice," she said, leaning in to kiss him again. She suddenly stopped. "Ow," she said, pulling his hands off her ears, though there was no way he'd hurt her. "Where's the bathroom?" she asked.

Khan pointed to the door. "What's wrong?" But she hurried away without answering. Khan knocked on the door, noticing that it was locked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she called back. "I'll be out in a minute."

She sounded strong but unsure. Khan walked back to the other room and picked up her purse, rifling through it until he found her communicator. It was secured to her bio-signature, but Khan had given her this communicator and preset the security so he had full access. He had not checked her calls for a long time, but he suddenly needed to know who she'd been talking to.

To his surprise he saw a long list of missed calls from Matthew - seven just that evening. That was a lot, even for a concerned doctor trying to reach his patient. It added to Khan's general feeling of uneasiness and he suddenly realized why the touch of her thumbs on his ears felt so familiar.

It dated back almost ten years (many more if he counted cryosleep), to a beautiful human woman he'd slept with a few times in Jordan. Khan barely remembered her name, but he remembered the fuss she'd made when he'd turned her out of his bed. Matthew had been more than willing to take her into his. That woman had kissed Khan in the same manner, circling her thumbs around his ears, and had no doubt done it to Matthew as well.

Khan stared down at Beth's communicator and pressed Matthew's name to call him. He knew that Matthew would think he was Beth.

Matthew answered quickly, like he'd been expecting her call. "There you are," he said, obviously trying to keep his voice light. "How are you feeling?"

Khan said nothing. He closed his eyes, listening for every intonation and inflection in Matthew's voice.

"Beth?" he asked. "Beth, are you there?"

There was another long moment of silence and Khan could hear Matthew's breathing getting faster, like he was growing anxious. "Did you sleep with him?" he finally asked, and then the words came out in a rush, like they'd been waiting to be said all evening. "Please don't sleep with him, Beth. Don't even be alone with him if you can help it. Khan won't be able to control himself around you. I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want..." Matthew lowered his voice. "I don't want him to have you. I don't want anyone else to have you."

Khan meant to snap the communicator closed but he snapped it in half. He didn't care, it was just as well, she would not be using it again.

He banged on the bathroom door, now infuriated by the lock.

"I'll be out..." Beth began but Khan shouldered the door to force it open. She had both hands on the side of the sink, bending over it. His erection throbbed to see her like that, but the next moment she sprang back in shock as he stormed into the small room.

"When?" he demanded, aroused and angry and completely heartbroken. "How long did it take you?"

"I said just a minute," Beth said, but Khan knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"What did you let him do?"

"Let who do?" she asked. She looked confused, but she was a good actress.

Khan held up her communicator and threw it on the floor. It broke into even more pieces. "Matthew. Who do you think?" Maybe the whole mindmeld amnesia was an act - concocted by her and Matthew to keep Khan away from her. When she took Khan to the cave was she just trying to make Matthew jealous? Is that why she'd worn the gold dress? Was she trying to make Matthew fight for her?

She looked down at the pieces of metal and plastic. "Oh," she said.

That single syllable was all the confession Khan needed. Something snapped in his mind and anger filled his broken heart. "Oh?!" he roared, wishing he had something else to throw. He turned and punched the wall, his fist driving through a few tiles and shaking even more loose. "All you can say is _Oh_?!"

Beth looked at the wall and then back at Khan. "I don't know exactly what happened," she stammered. She was afraid of him. Khan had never thought her fear would please him, but in this moment it did. Immensely.

"But something did happen," he said, approaching her, making her back up. Suddenly nothing felt real, nothing could be trusted. Was Spock also in on it? Was she fucking him as well? Who else?

"I don't think we... went all the way," she said, and her adolescent language both aroused and incensed Khan.

"I'm afraid that isn't good enough," he hissed, pushing her roughly against the wall.

"Please don't hurt me," she whimpered, and her plea made dark fantasies race through Khan's mind. There were so many ways he could hurt her, but he kicked her feet apart and pushed a finger up inside her. He stared into her eyes, seeing her shame as he fingered her. She felt so incredible, so special, and the thought of Matthew or any other man touching her and feeling her silky, sucking warmth drove Khan crazy. He closed his eyes, trying to focus, trying to remember what she should feel like, trying to tell if she'd had a cock inside her in the past week.

He didn't think so, but he was too worked up to feel relieved. He pushed a second finger inside her, telling himself it was just to make sure, but his cock was as hard as it had ever been. He looked at Beth's face. She was breathing hard, her eyes fluttering as he twisted his fingers inside her. Was she enjoying this on some level? The idea excited Khan but also angered him.

"Turn around," he said, and then instantly moved her into position over the sink before she could react. He hesitated. She had never consented to this before. But he was too far gone. He put a hand on her back and fingered her from behind. Then he pulled his wet finger out and slid it up to her rectum and held it there for a moment. When Beth realized what he was going to do she tried to straighten up, but Khan held her down, slowly pushing his finger inside. "Did you let him fuck you here?" he asked, though it was obvious she hadn't. It was incredibly tight, and hot, and the violation of the act was recklessly arousing. When Khan was sure she wasn't going to fight him he reached down and squeezed his cock through his pants.

He groaned loudly, wanting to fuck her so badly, wanting to prove once and for all that she belonged to him. She was gripping the sides of the sink, her whole body shaking. Khan ran his hand down her back, feeling every vertebrae in her spine. He could have her, just like this, and she wouldn't try to stop him.

"I love you, Beth," he said, starting to unbuckle his pants. She sobbed loudly and he hesitated, looking up. He saw his own reflection in the mirror. He looked hideous, less than human, like an animal. It made him step back and Beth collapsed to the floor.

Khan looked down at her. "I'm..." He wanted to apologize, but he was not sorry. He wanted to punish her, to hurt her as much as she'd hurt him... just not like this.

* * *

Beth huddled in a ball and looked up as Khan leaned over her to wash his hands in the sink.

He pulled out his own communicator but before making the call he bent down and put a hand over her mouth.

"Hello, Deanna?" he said, his voice full of calm authority. Beth tried to remove his hand, tried to scream through his fingers, tried to kick and claw at him, but it was all useless. "I don't want to worry you but there's a situation. I don't have time to explain now, I need you to take the children to a safe house. No, not that one. Yes, take them there. No, don't tell my friends, take the tunnels up the mountain and use my jump ship. I'll contact you as soon as I can. Beth? Yes, she's fine. She can't talk right now. It might be nothing, but you know... yes, thank you. Thank you, Deanna, kiss them both for us."

When he hung up he released Beth. She glared up at him, shaking with fear and fury. She only knew of one safe house. "Where did you send my children?"

He stood and looked down on her. "It's best for now if you don't know."

"You have no right to keep them from me!"

"Trust me, you don't want them at home when I get there."

He turned to leave and she grabbed his ankle. "Why, Khan?" she asked, her voice breaking. "What are you going to do?"

He bent down to her level. "I'm going to kill your lover, Beth. The others might not like that so it could get rather messy."

"Don't," Beth said, getting up on her knees. "Please," she begged, pulling on his clothes. "Please don't hurt him."

Khan cupped her cheek, wiping his thumb through her tears. He dragged it across her lips, letting her taste them. "I might not," he said, "except for these. I'm afraid these make it necessary."

"No." Beth tried to stop crying but it was too late. Khan shook her loose and closed the bathroom door behind him. He yanked it into place, jamming it so hard she could not force it open from inside.

"Khan!" she screamed, banging on it. "Khan, please!"

But he was gone. He was going to kill Matthew and he was keeping her on ice until it was done.

Beth looked around for something she could use, either to break out of the room or use as a weapon when Khan returned.

Suddenly she looked down at her wrist, at the gold bracelet, her medical monitor. Matthew had programmed his communicator into it. She pressed the call button, knowing it would alert him. He had said he would come if she called him - she could only hope he would know how to find her. If nothing else, he might be gone by the time Khan arrived in Alaska. She might be able to save one of them.

* * *

**Yikes! Just a bit of a change! Lots going on here as Khan finally snaps, and just when things were going so well! Let me know your thoughts - can Beth and Khan come back from this? Do you want them to? Some of you don't like Matthew - are you hoping Khan catches up with him?**

**Thanks for reading, faving and following. We are almost up to 100 follows - I can't believe how supportive you guys are and I hope you're all enjoying the story and continue to enjoy it as we turn this dark corner! **

**Special thanks to these dear readers for reviewing since last time - always love to read feedback: Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit, WhitneyG, CLTex, FecklessFemale, NerdyChicksHaveMoreFun, TheJewellersHand , Sinister Bunny, ZabuzasGirl and the Guests :)**

**xo**


	11. Chapter 11

**FYI I went back and made some tweaks to the Chapter 2 to introduce a new character, Commissioner Graves, who heads up a new intelligence division in the Federation. It's called the Department of Extreme Threats (DET). They are sort of like secret military police (think Dept. of Homeland Security meets the Gestapo) who target extreme threats to the Federation. They are hunting down Khan like we were hunting Bin Laden. They are the ones who seized Dyret. You don't need to go back and re-read unless you want to :) this is all you need to know to move forward with the story. BIG thanks to TheJewellersHand for her generous contributions to those changes - xo**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Spock sat cross-legged on the floor and tried to quiet his mind. He was in the communal sleeping quarters on the Augment ship, next to the bunk bed he shared with Lucy. There was a containment cell onboard, but Arma had not tried to put him inside after the disastrous mind meld with Beth. He had promised Arma he would not leave the ship and he intended to keep that promise.

As he meditated, Spock found his thoughts repeatedly drifting back to Khan. He still believed that the Augment should somehow be held responsible for his crimes, but he was also forced to view him through the filter of Beth's love and contentment.

Khan was devoted and gentle with his new family, and had proved he was no threat as long as those he loved were safe. If he and Beth could be left alone, Spock believed Khan would most likely live out his life in this Alaskan sanctuary he had created, making love to his wife and raising his children in peace. But Spock also knew that that was never going to happen.

Even if he and Lucy weren't helping to arrest Khan, the Federation and its Department of Extreme Threats would find a way to hurt or threaten him. If Khan was willing to tear Starfleet apart to be reunited with his Augment crew, Spock couldn't imagine the carnage that would follow a separation from his flesh and blood family. It would be almost logical to warn him...

It was at this point in Spock's thinking that Beth would come into his mind, followed, inevitably, by his own mother. Spock had once felt an uncontrollable sexual attraction to Beth, and in the time he'd spent with her during the past two days, he had felt that itch beginning to return... but even at his most sexually volatile, their _emotional_ connection had always been maternal, and Beth and his mother would forever be linked in Spock's mind. Upon meditation, he was realizing that at the root of his desire to protect Beth was his failure to protect his mother on the planet Vulcan.

There was a sudden, loud bang and shouts of frustration as Lucy exploded into the cramped sleeping quarters. She kicked the door as it slid shut behind her.

"Spock, wake up, they're gone! Khan, Beth, the kids, the grandmother, they're all gone!"

He did not react, but felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Beth and the children were safe. He found he barely cared that Khan had escaped with them.

"Damn it, Spock, will you quit praying and actually do something?" Lucy tried to shake him out of his meditation but he just took a deep breath and slowly released it. He had not talked to her or anyone else since his confinement.

"Commissioner Graves keeps calling me, and your Admiral Caine has been trying to reach you. Please Spock, I don't know what to tell them."

He was surprised to hear the electrical hum of a phaser being charged close to his ear.

"I swear to God if you don't say something I'll stun you."

Without opening his eyes, Spock reached his hand out and closed it around her phaser. He pointed it away from his face. "That will not be necessary."

"I _knew_ you could hear me."

"I am surprised the others can not hear you as well."

"What are we going to do, Spock?"

He looked up at Lucy and saw not just frustration, but also fear in her eyes. "There is nothing we _can_ do" he said. "If Khan does not want to be found, he will not be found. He may have intercepted your communications and realized he was in danger."

"Shit, do you think so?" Lucy dropped to the floor beside Spock and put both hands on his arm. "You can't tell the Commissioner that. Please, promise me you won't tell him it's my fault."

"I don't report to Commissioner Graves, Lucy. I don't have to tell him anything, and neither do you. It may mean forfeiting the bounty on Khan, but..."

"You think I'm doing this for money?" She looked offended. "You think that's all I care about?"

"You are a bounty hunter and a mercenary," he reminded her. "By definition you put money above all other beliefs and convictions."

She shook her head. "The DET doesn't pay people to work for them, Spock. Why would they need to pay me when they already have something of mine that money can't buy?"

"What is that?" he asked her.

She lowered her head, looking at her hands still on his arm. "I wish I could tell you."

Spock frowned. "Is Commissioner Graves blackmailing you? Is he extorting your services somehow?"

She looked up at him and her eyes told him it was true. Spock was finally beginning to understand Lucy's motivation for betraying the Augments and her colony on Wellhaven. "If so, his actions are illegal. You can report Commissioner Graves to the Security Council."

"The _Federation_ Security Council?" she asked, laughing dryly. "Who do you think they would believe?"

She was right. A citizen of a non-Federation planet would be lucky to get an audience with the Security Council, let alone convince them one of their high ranking officers was corrupt. "I could petition them with you," he offered.

She looked surprised, and touched. "You would do that for me?"

Spock did not know why he'd made the offer. He did not know Lucy, not really. The more he learned about her, the more he realized he did not know her at all. Yet, he wanted to help her if he could. "They would be forced to launch an investigation, but you have to tell me what the Commissioner is holding over you."

She looked tempted, but stopped short as the door suddenly slid open. It was Matthew. Lucy released Spock's arm and backed away from him to sit on his bed.

Matthew seemed flustered to see them. "You two should get out of here," he said, crossing the room to his own bed and starting to undress. He put on a clean pair of trousers and his best shirt. "I need to take the ship for a while."

"Aren't we all leaving in a few hours?" Lucy asked, sounding skeptical.

"I should be back by then."

"I am confined to quarters," Spock reminded him.

"Arma will understand."

"I will stay where I am," Spock said, not wanting to set foot on Khan's property again, even if Lucy was right and Khan was not in residence. "If you're returning with the ship..."

"Haven't you done enough damage?" Matthew snapped.

"I assume by your defensiveness that you are going to see Beth?" Spock surmised, arching an eyebrow.

Matthew narrowed his eyes resentfully, but didn't deny it.

"And Khan as well?" Lucy asked, sitting up straight.

"I'm not sure."

"But you know where they are?"

Matthew nodded. "Yes."

"Then we're coming with you," Lucy said, standing and heading for the door.

"No," Matthew started to protest.

"What if Khan _isn't_ with her?" she asked. "Do you really want to risk being alone with her after everything that happened last time?"

Matthew scowled as Lucy left the room and Spock knew that was exactly what he wanted.

* * *

Beth shivered as she crouched in the cold bathtub, wrapped in a white towel and grasping a towel rod she'd ripped off the wall. She had used it to beat on the door and the walls while she screamed herself hoarse. Finally she turned the tap on in the sink and let it flood onto the floor, hoping it would leak into the room below and someone in maintenance would find her.

Not that she knew what she would do if she got free. If she ever wanted to see her children again, she would have to face Khan at some point... which had probably been his intention when he sent them away. She viciously thought of breaking the mirror to have something sharp to use against him, but in the back of her mind she knew that trying to cut him would be useless and probably just give him ideas.

Would he really hurt her? She knew he loved her, but after killing Matthew or beating him to a pulp would he be able to stop himself? She thought of what Matthew had told her about Khan being aroused by blood. He'd held her prisoner once and made Dr. Neel threaten her with a knife as he undressed her... Beth was too frightened by the memory to be surprised it had returned to her.

Finally, after what felt like hours, she heard a loud sound in the next room, like somebody knocking something over.

"Help!" she screamed, too afraid to get out of the bathtub in case it was Khan returning.

There was banging on the bathroom door and she jumped, gripping the towel rod even harder.

"Beth!" a deep voice called. "Beth, are you alright?"

It could have been Khan's voice except for the undertone of kindness.

"Open the door," Matthew said.

"It's stuck," she shouted back, "Khan..."

But before she could finish, the door flew across the bathroom in a shower of splinters and plaster. Matthew followed closely, turning off the tap and looking around the room. He took a deep, relieved breath when he saw her cowering in the tub. She knew it was just Matthew, but still brandished the towel rod as he strode towards her.

He knocked it out of her hand and bent over to pick her up. Beth didn't know why she struggled, but he held her calmly, standing in the puddle of tapwater as she wore herself out.

"You're alright," he said gently, carrying her through to the bedroom as she began to cry. He sat on the edge of the bed, still holding her close. Beth hid her face in his shoulder, sobbing with relief, holding him tight as she balled his leather jacket in her fists.

"Shh, you're alright," he repeated. "You're safe with me."

She nodded, wanting to believe him, but knowing safety was a transient thing. "We have to get out of here," she told him, looking up and wiping her eyes. "We can't be here when Khan comes back."

"What happened?" Matthew asked, looking around at the bedroom. His eyes lingered on the bed, which was still fully made. "Did he hurt you?" He lowered his voice, turning her face up to look at him. "Did he rape you?"

"No," Beth said, remembering the expression on Khan's face as he'd pushed his fingers inside her. He had been so close to losing control, anger and hunger burning through the cracks in his veneer. He could have raped her in that moment. "But he knows."

Matthew looked confused. "Knows what?"

"About us," she said. "He wants... I'm sorry, Matthew," she said, starting to cry again. "He wants to kill you. He knows that we slept together."

"That we..." Matthew's voice trailed off. "Why does he think that?"

Beth wasn't sure. Her memories were incomplete, but she remembered fighting with Matthew about it afterwards. "That's why Spock was doing the mind meld," she realized. She saw Matthew watching her strangely. "We did sleep together, didn't we?"

He gazed into her eyes for a long time, his hand moving slowly down her bare back where the towel had dropped a little. "Yes," he finally said, pushing a strand of hair back from her face. He leaned forward to kiss her, a gentle, tentative kiss, so unlike the way Khan had kissed her.

She let him do it, but felt an overwhelming disappointment in herself. She really had cheated on her husband and the father of her children. She had lied about it... no, not just lied, she'd tried to erase it and caused everyone involved even more confusion and pain. No wonder Khan was so enraged.

"We should leave," she said abruptly, pushing herself off Matthew's lap. He stood, following her closely, keeping his hand on her back like he didn't want to lose that small amount of contact. She shrugged him off, feeling annoyed, not wanting anyone to touch her ever again. "I need something to wear."

She looked through the closets and drawers, hoping Arma had left some clothes behind. There wasn't even a bathrobe. In the next room, Beth's gold dress was still pooled on the floor. She picked it up, folding the torn material in half. It was either this or the towel.

"My shoes are in the bathroom," she told Matthew. "Could you get them for me?"

"Of course," he said, starting to turn away.

Beth untucked her towel and it fell to the floor. Matthew stopped, mid-turn, and stared.

"What?" she asked. He must have seen her naked, at least once before, but his eyes were moving all over her like they were trying to take everything in at the same time. She could practically feel them on her skin. He took a halting step towards her and Beth covered herself with the remnants of her dress. "My shoes," she said, pointing behind him.

She waited for him to leave the room. She could not understand why she had sacrificed her marriage for him. He was fun and easy going and Khan was often neither, but she could never love Matthew the way she'd once loved Khan... the way she'd been starting to love him again...

She wrapped the folded material of her dress around her body, trying to turn it into something she could wear in public.

"May I?" Matthew asked when he returned.

Beth let him adjust the material, knotting it at the top, tearing a long strip from the bottom. It made the dress even shorter - a strapless minidress which she would never normally wear, but when he tied the strip around her waist it cinched and secured everything together so at least it wouldn't fly open.

Matthew ran his hands over her curves, smoothing the material. "Beautiful," he said, smiling as he tugged loose threads from the hem, the backs of his fingers brushing against her thighs. Beth felt her stomach tighten as he grew still, standing unnecessarily close to her. His hand lingered at the bottom of her skirt and slowly started to slide underneath.

His fingertips stroked the soft, sensitive skin under her buttocks. She could hear his breathing change, becoming uneven as he lowered his mouth to her shoulder. He kissed her skin, and his lips felt the same as Khan's, but also not the same. It did feel nice. He was gentle and loving, and her body warmed to his touch, but he was not the one it really wanted. He was not the one who could set it on fire.

"Not here," she said, pushing him away. "Not now."

_Not for a long time_, she swore to herself. She would not go from one man to the next, falling in and out of bed in exchange for their protection. Not that anyone could protect her as well as Khan. Not that anyone one could protect her _from_ him.

* * *

Spock sat at the controls of the Augment ship, which was hovering above the tall hotel skyscraper in St. Petersburg. Matthew had gone to find Beth, and Lucy had gone to update Commissioner Graves. He wondered what power the man held over her, and if he really would release her if she led him to Khan.

Spock was alone on the ship, which was how he preferred to be. He put his hands on the controls and imagined just flying off into the night. The ship was fitted with a cloaking device, the Augments would never find him. Not that they would look; they would have their hands full when the Federation came for Khan. If any of them escaped, they had the Klingons to deal with as well. Spock could just disappear...

His communicator chirped and he took it off his belt to look at it. It was Matthew. This was Spock's last chance to leave without facing what he'd done to his Augment crew-mates.

Spock switched on the view screen and saw Matthew with Beth on the roof of the hotel. He'd given her his jacket, which she wore over a short, shiny dress. There was something wrong with the way she was standing. Spock zoomed in on her face. She looked shattered, like all hope had been drained out of her. Matthew would not have hurt her, nor would Khan... unless... Spock felt another wave of guilt wash over him and he started to lower the ship so they could board. There was no point in trying to escape; he would never be able to escape what he had done.

* * *

The ship was too big to land on the rooftop so Matthew had to give Beth a boost so she could climb onboard. She knew he could see all the way up her short skirt as she struggled to pull herself into the ship, but she pretended not to care. Once she was safely onboard he jumped in easily beside her.

"You okay?" he asked, helping her to her feet and keeping a supportive arm around her waist. She nodded, trying to turn away from him, but he held her firmly. "Let's get you secured," he said, guiding her through a corridor and onto the bridge of the small ship. She saw Spock sitting at the controls and experienced the first glimmer of happiness she'd felt since Khan had locked her in the bathroom.

She stepped forward to go to him, but Matthew held her back. "We need to leave," he said to Spock. "Is everything ready?"

Spock turned, his eyes shrewdly observing Matthew's hand on her waist, his other hand on her arm. "Lucy stepped out," he said, standing up.

"We can't wait for her," Matthew told him, his grip tightening on Beth as Spock came closer. "Khan could be back at any moment. Turn the cloak on."

Spock flicked it on but didn't sit back down. "Beth, tell me what happened."

"We don't have time," Matthew said, turning Beth towards a chair and putting her in it.

"I can do it myself," she snapped as he tried to fasten her seat belt.

He looked at her face, surprised by her tone. He looked at Spock as well. "Go and find Lucy if you don't want to leave her behind."

"No," Beth almost shouted. As soon as Spock was off the ship Matthew would leave, and he could take her anywhere. How similar was he to Khan, deep deep down when he really wanted something? Did he want her badly enough to force her to stay with him against her will? She might never see her children again, she might never see Khan again. "Matthew's right, Spock. We don't have any time. We have to get away so Khan can cool down."

_If that was even possible,_ she thought as she let Matthew fasten her seatbelt. She watched him practically drag Spock back to the controls. They took off, shooting out of the Earth's atmosphere in a matter of seconds.

"Where are you going, Matthew?" Spock asked after a few minutes, turning to the Augment.

Matthew was staring forward, the muscles working hard in his jaw as he clenched and unclenched it. "I told you not to come," he finally said, and Beth wasn't sure who he was talking to.

"Matthew?" she prompted, trying to sound unconcerned.

Spock turned to face her and Matthew lashed out, punching him hard in the mouth. "Don't look at her!" He threw a second punch, which Spock dodged and the two men wrestled to the ground.

"No!" Beth shouted, unfastening her seat belt. It was happening again - she had been through this once before and she wouldn't do it again - floating through space with two men until one of them eventually broke the other. She ran for the cloaking switch, lunging for it, hoping Khan was already looking for her, scanning for the Augment ship. Before she could reach the switch the whole bridge launched sideways, throwing her on top of Matthew and Spock.

The two men barely noticed, except to roughly shove her off them as they continued to fight. She went for the switch again and there was another jolt. It was not torpedo fire; something was colliding with their ship.

"Spock!" yelled Beth. "Matthew! Something is on top of us."

It took a long time for the two men to realize what she'd said. They slowly stood and took their seats, glaring at each other in a reluctant truce.

"I don't see anything," Spock said, looking at the scanners.

"It's another cloaked ship," Matthew said, switching the view screen to comm. mode. "It's hailing..."

Beth gasped as Khan's face filled the screen. If she'd imagined she would be relieved to see him, she was mistaken.

His eyes were cold, his smile was cruel, his voice was softer than velvet. "The three people I would most like to kill, all together on one ship. You really have made this very easy."

"Khan," Beth said, and his eyes narrowed at her, staring through the cameras and the wires and the space between them, and finding the very center of her soul. "Don't," was all she could muster.

He pretended to laugh and shook his head pityingly. "Come, now, Beth, you can do better than that," he said. "You won't be able to save your lover or your Vulcan, but you might be able to save yourself."

"Please," she said, tears filling her eyes. "I love you." She did. She felt it even in this moment when she was so afraid. She did love him.

He couldn't pretend to laugh at that. "Is that why you're leaving me?"

She knew that was how it looked. "I swear..."

"You swore that you would _never_ leave!" he shouted, losing his calm for a moment, banging his fist so hard the whole screen shook. A lock of hair fell in front of his face and Beth reached out instinctively, wanting to brush it back.

"Khan, you need to listen to me," Spock said.

Khan looked down at him, seeming to remember that he had an audience. "I think it is you who needs to listen, Mr. Spock." He took a few steps back and leaned to the side to grab something. Suddenly Lucy was standing in front of him and he had his hand around her neck. She looked terrified.

Beth could remember once being where she stood and how frightened she had been. "Stop it, Khan," she said. "You don't have to do this."

"Jealous?" he taunted, and he forced Lucy to face him and kissed her on the mouth. She struggled, scratching at his neck, tearing his shirt.

"Khan!" Spock shouted, standing up.

Matthew killed the comm. and turned to him. "How is Khan doing this? We designed the cloak on this ship. Nothing can penetrate it."

"Khan can," Beth said, feeling a bitter anger settling over her fear. Khan _had_ made her jealous and she felt sickened by herself. What kind of victim was she that she could be jealous of that kiss?

"Matthew is right," Spock said. "There must be something else onboard, a tracking beacon too strong to be concealed by the cloak."

"It's me," Beth whispered. "He's here for me." He would never let her go. It was a promise he had made a long time ago when she was his prisoner, and everything since then had reinforced those words. It eventually became something she loved about him, something that made her feel safe and protected, but now it had put them all in danger.

"We'd already know about it," Matthew argued, ignoring her. "It would need a massive amplifier to boost the signal."

The comm. light blinked angrily on the console, but it was probably not as angry as Khan, who had been cut off in the middle of his moment of retribution.

"It's me," Beth repeated. She didn't know how, but she knew it was her. She looked down at her wedding ring, glowing softly in the dim cabin lights. "It _is_ me!" she suddenly shouted, holding her left hand out between Matthew and Spock. "My ring is an amplifier. I remember. Khan told me it was cut from the same crystal as the amplification orb from Centula!"

Matthew grabbed her hand. "You knew you had a tracking device and you didn't tell us?"

"No," Beth said, shaking her head. "I didn't know he was tracking me, I don't think I ever knew."

"Give it to me," Matthew said, twisting the ring off her finger.

"Be careful," Beth said. "Don't break it."

Matthew laughed. "Don't break it? I either break it or he breaks our necks." He turned the ring over in his hands, examining the back. "I see the tracking chip." He looked up at Beth, his expression almost triumphant. "Wow, a secret tracking device in your wedding ring. If that's not a metaphor for your so-called marriage..."

He dropped the ring on the floor and stomped down hard with his foot.

"No!" Beth yelled, diving for it, her fingers almost getting crushed under his heel. She was a fraction of a second too late and when Matthew raised his foot again the golden crystals had been completely crushed. "No," Beth cried, wanting to scream, wanting to break Matthew's neck herself.

She knew it was stupid to be so upset over a piece of jewelry, especially one that had just put all their lives in danger, but Beth felt distraught as she picked up the silver band and swept the grains of crystal into her hand. Khan had made it for her, he had given it to her in their cave, given her his heart and pledged his life to her. She loved him so much it hurt, and part of her didn't care what he'd done, or what he planned to do. She clenched her fingers around the ring, willing it to reconstitute itself from the sheer force of her love.

"It worked," Matthew said, turning his back on her and taking his seat again.

Beth looked up. The comm. light had stopped blinking. Khan had lost track of her. He was probably less than a hundred feet away but it could have been a thousand miles.

"Oh shit." Matthew began punching buttons furiously on the console. "Brace for impact!" he yelled, and a second later Spock threw himself on top of Beth.

The bridge shook violently, the whole ship vibrating as it was hit with an array of photon torpedoes. Beth screamed, but it was drowned out by the wail of the ship's alarm and the hissing of the shields as they tried to deflect Khan's weapons.

It was relentless. Why wasn't Matthew retreating? Beth tried to look out from under Spock's arm as he hugged himself around her. Sparks were shooting out of the dashboards on the console, panels were dropping from the ceiling, wires uncoiling and sending out more sparks. Matthew was shouting as he hit more buttons, but whatever he was saying, whatever he was doing, it was not enough to stop Khan. Nothing would ever be enough.

Beth closed her eyes and squeezed the remnants of her ring inside her fist. Maybe it had been a symbol of her marriage, and now it was a symbol of the end of her marriage... maybe a symbol of the end of her life. As she tried to accept her fate, she thought about her children and her mother, and especially Khan, and the pure moments of happiness they had shared. She was surprised to find comfort in one undeniable fact:

He had never let her go.

* * *

**Okay, I promise this is not the end of the story (how much would you hate me!), but it might be close to rock bottom for Beth and Khan. Strange that Beth realizes her love for him when he is putting her in the most danger. They have always had an intense, somewhat disturbed relationship and that will probably never change. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Another pretty long one with lots going on but I hope you enjoyed it.**

**As always, thanks for reading, and I was excited to see new follows and favs, and lots of comments as things heat up. Thanks to these folks who reviewed since last time - really appreciate all the support and encouragement :)**

**Benedict'sZombieGirl, Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit, rem, WhitneyG, Destiny Rain Evans, NerdyChicksHaveMoreFun, TheJewellersHand, CLTex, Just Pam, Sinister Bunny, AniMags and the Guests. Had to giggle at all the hate for Matthew - he sure earned it this time!  
**

**Stay tuned for more consequences :)**

**xo**


	12. Chapter 12

******Chapter 12**

Khan hunched over the flight console, his eyes blazing with concentration as he tried to keep the Augment ship in his sights. He could feel Beth slipping away from him and he grasped the controls like they were her hands trying to slip through his fingers.

He fired every weapon in his arsenal, and the explosions of the torpedoes against the cloaking shields were his only proof she was still within reach. He couldn't let her ship disappear; without her tracking beacon he would never be able to find it again.

He could tell Matthew was piloting the ship - he was reacting faster than any human could, but he was a doctor, not a fighter pilot, and his maneuvers seemed slow and predictable to Khan. Every time he went left, Khan anticipated it and tagged him with another torpedo. Every time he retreated, Khan was already circling into position. It was lucky Beth had not fallen for Brann, Khan thought wryly, he would have been a much bigger challenge in an air fight.

But Khan was almost out of torpedoes and Matthew's shields were still holding. The cloak was not going to fail. Khan looked around for another option, growling in frustration. He saw Lucy cowering in a corner of the cockpit, staring in horror as he attacked her friends. Her eyes were bloodshot and frightened, and she suddenly looked very young.

"Put on your seatbelt," he barked at her, turning back round.

He wished he had not seen her in the lobby of the Hotel Dacha, wished he had not made a display of kissing her in front of Beth. It had felt good at the time - a big slap in the face to the only woman he really wanted to kiss - but now it was just another crime to add to his long list of offenses, another violation of something innocent. Why had Lucy even agreed to come on his ship? Didn't she know who he was?

Khan fired his second-to-last torpedo and thought of his children - now his last desperate connection to Beth. He felt a stab of guilt as he imagined their confusion when Deanna took them into hiding, and the grief and anger they would feel when they realized their mother was gone.

Would Beth come crawling back for them someday? Or would Matthew get her pregnant before then? Would he even let her see Taren and Allister, or would he keep her monopolized for the benefit of his own offspring?

An image of Beth flashed into Khan's mind, her stomach round with Matthew's child. He knew how Matthew would feel - his happiness and possessiveness as he lay beside her each night, his excitement mounting as he watched his seed grow inside her, his fear becoming frantic as he imagined all the ways he could lose her and the family only she could give him. Matthew would try to make Beth happy, try to make her love him, try to keep her sheltered and dependent. He would take control of her life, one piece at a time, telling himself it was for her protection...

Khan shook his head as an uncomfortable awareness settled around his ears. No, he told himself, it was different with him. He loved her completely, and she _had_ loved him, she _had_ been happy, she _had_ been safe in the fortress of his arms. He just wanted her back there again, just the two of them, with their children... he just wanted his family back the way it had been. He would do anything.

"Hold on!" he called over his shoulder to Lucy, and he set a collision course for the Augment ship's last location.

"No!" she shouted as she realized what he was doing. He could hear her fumbling with a seatbelt as she started to shout something else, but it was drowned out by a sudden metallic scream as his shields collided with the shields of the Augment ship.

Waves of energy flowed through the air and rippled through the walls and the floor and into Khan's body. He felt like he was cooking from the inside and the readings on the flight console went haywire as everything around him threatened to simultaneously explode and collapse.

And then, just as suddenly, there was only silence, and the lingering taste of ozone in his mouth. Khan stared into the space ahead of him and saw the Augment ship, no cloak, no shields, completely naked in front of him. Despite his relief, he felt a moment of triumph and a viscious excitement as he anticipated seeing Beth and Matthew again. Had they really thought they could escape him?

He hailed their broken ship, reading on his sensors that they had just enough power for life support and communications. He wanted to hear them beg for their lives, he wanted to show Beth that he could be forgiving and magnanimous when she pleased him.

But there was no answer from the ship. Khan hissed through his teeth and hailed them again. He only had one torpedo left, but it was all he'd need to pick them off now. Didn't they know they were out of options?

He scanned the ship for life signs and found only two. There was interference, so he scanned the ship a second time. "Do they have a transporter?" he asked Lucy, and hoped it was true. He was furious that Beth might have escaped again, but the alternative was far, far worse.

"No," Lucy said, her voice wavering as she tried to catch her breath. "Why?"

Khan cursed and moved to the transporter console. He locked onto the two life forms and beamed them across to the small transporter room on his ship.

"What's happening?" Lucy asked as he ran past her, but he ignored the question. He didn't have time to answer, didn't want to admit what he had done.

He turned the corner into the transporter room and froze. "No," he said, taking a faltering step forward to where Spock was groaning on the ground with Matthew kneeling over him. Were these the two life signs he had detected? "Where is Beth?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

He had killed her. His jealousy, his anger, his pride... Khan just stared as Matthew looked up at him, and his eyes were full of hate. It was like looking in a mirror, except that Matthew could not have hated Khan as much as Khan hated himself.

Suddenly there was a crushing pain down the back of Khan's head and neck. He stumbled forward but kept his footing and turned to face his attacker. Beth stood there, her right arm raised, a broken piece of metal in her hand. It was covered in green blood.

"Beth!" he shouted in surprise and happiness, but she swung the piece of metal again. He tried to dodge it, but he was clumsy with relief. She struck his jaw, spinning his head to the side. The pain was staggering, but he didn't care. He kept coming at her, feeling the strange urge to tell her that she should swing at him using both her hands.

"Don't touch me," she warned, holding the piece of metal between them. Khan grabbed it from her and dropped it on the floor. She threw her other hand at him, clenched in a fist, but he didn't try to avoid it. It was contact, and that's what he wanted... more proof that she was real.

"Ah!" she cried as she punched him hard, and when she withdrew her hand he saw that it was covered in blood. It was _her_ blood, weeping from between her clenched fingers.

He reached for her hand, but she pulled back. "No," she said, as frightened as she was angry. "Please."

He persisted, taking her left wrist as gently as he could. "It's alright," he soothed, but she desperately tried to wrench it out of his hands. She turned away from him as he began to peel her fingers back, one at a time.

In her hand were the remnants of her wedding ring, the broken crystals embedded in her bloody skin from the force of the punch, and the force of her gripping them so hard. Khan could just stare at them, remembering the many hours it had taken him to make the ring, keeping it a secret from her though he wanted to tell her a hundred times what he was doing, then finally surprising her with it, and their shared happiness when they'd made their vows to each other. How had it all gone so wrong, so quickly?

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, and she was looking up at him with just as much pain as he was feeling. He let her fingers go and they slowly curled back into a fist.

"I'm sorry," he said, knowing that the words could never be enough. He went to hold her. She was pale and shivering, and her face was so sad he didn't think she would ever smile again. "Come here," he said, putting his arms around her, but she pushed him away.

"You have to help him," she said, pushing him again and looking around his shoulder to where Spock was laying on the floor. "You would have killed me, except for him."

The words chilled the blood in Khan's veins and he turned to look back at Spock. Matthew had rolled him onto his stomach and torn open the back of his blood-soaked shirt. Khan realized why he had detected only two distinct life signs when he'd scanned the Augment ship; Spock had been laying on top of Beth, shielding her during Khan's attack.

Spock's back was covered in bruises and there was a deep wound just to the left of his spine. Khan looked down at the piece of metal Beth had used to hit him. It had been embedded in Spock's back and if it weren't for the Vulcan it would have surely impaled her. Khan felt weak, thinking of how close he'd come to ending her life.

"What can I do?" he asked Matthew, who was applying pressure to the wound.

"I need an autosuture," he said, not looking up. "And a subdermal scalpel."

"Do you have them on your ship?" Khan asked, going to the transporter controls.

"Beth, come and press down here," Matthew said, and Beth dropped onto the transporter pad beside him, putting her hands over Spock's wound. Her left hand was still clenched in a fist, her red blood mixing with Spock's green blood as she tried to keep it from leaking out of him. "I don't have a sterile field for the surgery," Matthew told Khan, moving around to check Spock's neck, feeling along his vertebrae for damage. "I never needed one for the Augments and I didn't think to add it for Spock and Lucy."

"Surgery?" Lucy's trembling voice asked and Khan saw her standing in the doorway. Her big blue eyes were round and full of tears as she stared at Spock. Slowly they turned to Khan, and filled with absolute loathing.

"There's a sterile field at the house," he told Matthew, trying to ignore her. "We have a fully-equipped surgery. After we land I'll help..."

"There's no time," Matthew said. "You have a transporter. Beam us down now."

"I can't beam you down. There's a forcefield around the whole compound."

"Then lower it," Matthew ordered, his fingers pressed against the pulse in Spock's neck. "Or he _will_ die."

Lowering the forcefield would mean lowering all of the defenses around the property, but Khan realized with a pang that there was no one there to protect anymore. "I'm not sending Beth down with you," he said.

"I need assistance."

"For God's sake, Khan," Beth snapped, "He's dying."

But Khan would not let her go with Matthew again, not at any price. He shook his head sadly. "I can't lose you again." But as he said the words he knew they made her want to leave him even more.

"I'll go, Matthew," Lucy said, stepping forward to kneel beside Spock. She put her hands over his wound, taking Beth's place.

"Thank you," Beth murmured, but she did not stand or back away.

Khan dropped the forcefield around the house and carefully calibrated the transporter for Matthew, Spock and Lucy so he could beam them directly into the surgery. He was scared Beth would try to grab them as they dematerialized, but she stayed kneeling in place, her hands balled in her lap, her head down.

When they were gone, Khan watched her for a long time. He could barely hear her breathing.

"He's going to be alright," Khan said, and tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice when he added "Matthew is an excellent surgeon."

Beth nodded and Khan approached her quietly, circling until he stood in front of her, his boots in the pool of Spock's warm blood. He knew he should just pick her up and hold her to him and tell her he forgave her, for whatever she had done. He should beg for her forgiveness and promise he would never hurt her again...

But as he looked down at her, Khan could not say the words. He could not let her know that she had broken him.

"Look at me," he said instead, and his heart ached to see her hazel-green eyes turn up to him with no trace of warmth or affection. He knelt down to touch her face, but his hand went to the back of her head instead, his fingers entwining in her soft honey-blonde waves. She was so human, so fragile, but she held so much power over him that Khan couldn't admit how much he needed her, how much she'd hurt him by running away. "You are mine," he said, and he waited for her to nod again before leaning in to seal her hate with a single, achingly gentle, soul-destroying kiss.

* * *

**I wanted to show Khan's perspective here. He is such an intense, complicated man and I hope I got him right. He is overwhelmed by his emotions and has lost so much in his life he just can't trust a good thing. Hope they can sort it out, but it won't be easy, and you can probably see the warning signs that more trouble is around the corner! **

**Please forgive typos - wrote most of this in the airport. Wanted to get this one up a bit quickly - thanks for reading, and it was great to see the really thoughtful, observant comments about Beth and Khan and if they can/should stay together. Love the discussion, and thanks to these readers for their reviews: Just Pam, rem, Feckless Female, WhitneyG, Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit, April, CLTex, Sassiebone, Nirene Harper, NerdyChicksHaveMoreFun, BigStraightCrush, TheJewellersHand, AniMags, DestinyRainEvans and the Guests**

**xo**


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